


Ground Fury

by Sakumi



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Body Changes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Minor Violence, Protective Toothless (How to Train Your Dragon), Romantic Soulmates, Toothless/Hiccup - Freeform, self doubt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-24
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2018-05-31 02:55:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 41,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6452662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakumi/pseuds/Sakumi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If all has been lost, including your flight, is it enough to just have each other?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fin

**Author's Note:**

> This is still very much a work in progress, so forgive me if I edit previous chapters after I've uploaded them.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Note this story takes place after Hiccup 'defeats' the Gronkle in the training pit and is named the champion with the honor of killing a dragon. However, he does not leave immediately and instead spends several weeks more with Toothless in the Cove before they fly away together.
> 
> Colon ':' indicates telepathy.

* * *

 

 

_But a dragon could not feed a hungry child nor help a dying woman's pain. And who would ever dare to love a dragon? - George RR Martin, A Dance with Dragons._

 

* * *

 

 

 

__Hiccup very rarely questioned Toothless. For the most part, it had become an unquestionable truth that what Toothless felt is what he felt, and their decisions were always solid for their bond was deep, intrinsic and everlasting. Toothless got excitable at times, yes, and overly playful. But these were things he loved about his dragon as much as his wonderful eyes, earplates and powerful wings. But at this moment he looked at the Night Fury caught up in his own unbreakable excitement. He worried._ _

It had never occurred to him that Toothless' damaged fin could grow back. It had been years since he had shot the Night Fury down, and life without the flying gear was practically unthinkable. Hiccup knew how Toothless felt on the matter; The dragon held every memory of his time under the Red Death's control as far from him as he could, even when the dragon shared as much of everything else with the young man as was possible. Toothless was _ashamed _to have been captive for so long, and the lizard only considered flying with Hiccup to be _truly_ flying. He would rather not think about any other way at all.__

____It was somewhat logical, he knew. As much as he tried to convince Toothless that he had nothing to be ashamed of for following the orders of an Alpha, the dragon would do anything to not hear his arguments. Because a dragon lives off of it's pride, and it's power. Toothless didn't want to hear about the time he had no pride, and could have, _would have_ , used his power to kill the human he cares for so much.___ _

:I see you moping; Toothless interjected.

The clearing they stood in stayed absolutely dead-quiet. Only dragons were capable of telepathy. A cold wind brushed past them.

Hiccup shook his head. :I was just thinking:.

Toothless pressed closer to him and snorts. :About what? About flying?:

:Kind of. I don't know. I'm just not too sure this is going to work:. His tone was downcast, but there was a hint of determination there.

The dragon scratched at the grass under his paw. :That doesn't sound like the Hiccup I know. Come on:.

He lowered his belly to the ground, flattening himself to allow his rider access. Toothless had already shed the saddle and harness; they lay against a tree trunk nearby. Hiccup nervously climbed onto the familiar seat, feeling scale instead of the usual leather. No perch for his feet, nothing to hold onto except the Night Fury itself. He had mounted Toothless in this way before, of course, as there was no part of Toothless that was unfamiliar... Yet the knowledge he was climbing onto the dragon with no gear for a flight sent shivers down his spine.

:This is kind of nice, actually; He admits.

Toothless tensed, readying to push off the ground. Hiccup felt the familiar motions under him; the way Toothless lowers himself and stiffens before taking off. Pushing upwards, the two are somewhat stable in the air. Toothless takes it slow, keeping everything level as they hover in place. With each wingbeat, his muscles ripple and flex, and his shoulder blades push against his rider, firm but not harsh.

The dragon rumbled happily. :Nothing to worry about!:

He banks down to begin their descent, but the regrown fin is too heavy by the smallest amount. Enough to throw a dragon off balance. Hiccup instinctively pulls at Toothless' earplate to try and counter the slow spin they are thrown into, as the dragon throws his paws towards the ground in an attempt to soften their landing. As they hit ground, only two of his paws make contact and Hiccup is thrown off to land hard on his back.

:Hiccup!: Toothless rushed over and nuzzled him gently with his snout.

:I'm fine. Just a scratch, see? It'll go nicely with the one above it:. Hiccup laid on his side and pulled up his vest to inspect the wound.

:Hiccup:. Toothless nosed at his friend's back, feeling the strange scar above the fresh one.

Hiccup tries to wrench his head around and see what is so interesting about the scar, but yelped when the curious dragon started running his tongue over it.

:Hush. Your scar has grown scales:. The fact didn't seem to startle Toothless any, he spoke with a calm interest.

"What?!" Hiccup exclaimed out loud.

:Yeah. Feel it for yourself:.

Hiccup complied, gingerly feeling the strange yet familiar texture of Night Fury scale under his fingertips. He looked to his dragon for answers, but Toothless knew little more than himself.

:Maybe I can lick you into a dragon; He smiled.

:Very funny; Hiccup remarked as he picked up their flying kit and threw it onto his dragon's back. :Let's find somewhere to rest, eh Bud?:

As they come across a cave and laid down for the night, Toothless looked up to the sky and sighed. He knows that he has let his flying partner down, and in his despair he fails to notice the Viking girl watching them from the shadows. He watched the stars from the shelter of the rock overhang above him, and as Hiccup padded around and over him and the rain starts to trickle down from the speckled night sky he did not move or respond to his boy's prodding.

 

* * *

 

 

The girl watches from the shadows, and wonders. _Hiccup?_ It surely did look a lot like him, and the few times she had heard him talk the voice was eerily similar to what she remembered. But she had not seen him since he disappeared two years ago. However this man was _capable_ and physically toned. His muscles were not bulky, but lithe. He moved like a panther, and he growled like a dragon. Most of the time he was completely quiet, but at times he would look at his dragon like they were talking completely silently to each other.

But how could that be possible? How could a scrawny Viking screw-up survive and travel so far?

 

* * *

 

It hadn't quite hit him how exposed and disgustingly vulnerable Toothless felt until now. He dreamed of soaring the highest he could above the clouds. He took the presses and pulls from him and turned them into loops and dives. They cut through clouds and explored every little bit of the underside of the night sky's dark speckled wing. As far as he flew, he couldn't escape the feeling of weakness.

Hiccup smiled in his sleep. He followed the dragon as he lied against his chest. He felt Toothless' heart beat as his wings did. He looped the dream over and over in his mind even when the large dragon softly rose and left Hiccup lying on the now warmed cave floor.

Toothless almost stumbled out of the cave, but managed to slip out without waking his bedmate. He looked to the stars, the trees. He wondered if they would, actually, find a way to fly again. And if they couldn't....

 

* * *

 

_**-Years Ago-**_

 

:That's it, Toothless, that's Berk! There's no dragons attacking. We did it. She's dead:.

The island was just a speck in the distance, but growing closer with every wingbeat. Hiccup could feel his mate holding back, wanting to glide and take his time, but he drove him on.

:Don't expect them to let go of their traditions so quickly, Hiccup. They have always killed dragons and they will always perceive us as a threat. They might even turn some dragons against them in their violence. If I hadn't met you, I would hate humans, and there aren't many like you:.

Hiccup couldn't find the words to respond.

:What are you going to say to your father? What if he sees I've claimed you? Humans aren't _that_ clueless:.

That was another thing entirely, and the news that his son was not just friends with, but _intimate_ with his mortal enemy would surely send Stoick into a fierce and terrible rage of disbelief.

The island was recognizable now, soaring grey cliffs rising above troubled waters. The sea around Berk never seemed completely calm, even on a crystal clear sun stricken day the light speckled waters would churn and writhe endlessly. Columns of fir, spruce and pine clung to the cliffs, some on a precarious lean, overlooking soaring drops that would kill most creatures to fall such a height. A few towers of stone capped with foliage rose not too far from the island, like much smaller versions of the main island they stood unbroken against the waves. Man-made structures were evident as the pair banked towards the side of the island on which the village stood. At first the docks came into view, a few boardwalks were missing and singed, the climb from sea to clifftop would be difficult if not impossible with this amount of damage. It was typical at times to see the village blackened and broken, but the amount of structure missing from the village right now the pair had never before witnessed.

Their original plan was quickly forgotten as they came in for a heavy landing, paws thundering into hard ground in the center of the village.

The place was deadly silent. Usually a raucous thundering of bellowing voices, clattering steel and good humored insults was devoid of any sound but the distant chirping of birds.

A horrible sinking feeling overcame Hiccup, his mind knowing but heart disbelieving. He seemed to dismount Toothless in slow motion, each motion heavy and overbearing. He had started walking before he saw what he had been refusing to see until now. The place was a graveyard. Under the rubble that now encompassed half the town lay a hundred bodies of fallen Vikings.

Most were barely skeletons anymore, their bodies eaten by creatures and the elements. How long ago did his village fall? The place he was raised so long ago was reduced to ashes and bones.

Trying to quell the rising bile in his throat and dizzying vertigo overcoming him, he lurched towards the hill on which his childhood home stood. Toothless brought his head under his arm in support. They climbed the hill slowly, as charred planks and countless dead bodies still clutching weapons threatened to trip them. The chiefs house was gone completely, the only remains being scattered planks across the ground and a pile of stones that was once the hearth. There were no bodies here, of course. Stoick The Vast would not have died defending his home, Hiccup knew, but his clanmates. He cast his eyes to the mead hall where the majority of carnage lay. His father lay at the door to the hall, a pained expression on what was left of his face. He turned to Toothless with pain in his eyes. :I could never be what he wanted, but at least I can give him an honorable death:.

He pushed the raft out, a loose collection of logs tied with what rope could be found in the wreckage. It bobbed and weaved on the waves, but was ultimately stable and continued slowly out from the island carrying the former chief of Berk through the sea. Hiccup tried to think of a final sendoff.

"I was never going to be all you wanted, and our village was never going to be enough for me. I wish I could have said goodbye, Dad. I wish we could have understood each other, at least." He laid his hand on the top of Toothless' head and the dragon let an azure ball of flame to fly over the waves, hitting the raft and quickly spreading flame over the entire vessel.

"Feast in Valhalla, Stoick The Vast."


	2. Question

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV shifts marked with a line.
> 
> Revised 26/12/17

Toothless swished his black tail through the grass. It was a calm night, and the drizzle from earlier had stopped completely to leave the grass mildew soaked. As he brushed through it, it collected and scattered the small beads of dew.

He could smell something in the air, past the ever present scents of earth, tree and rodent. Like fear, and human. He encountered this sometimes, when they ran into people on their journeys. In the time since Red Death's demise Toothless had still yet to find any living being that did not recognize and respect his abilities, the presence of Hiccup seemed only to make him more foreboding, as many assumed he had the boy under some kind of spell or control.

And yet Toothless had never hurt any living being he did not desire for food, and even when he got overly playful with Hiccup he would nurse the scars and bites he caused as the young man complained and tried to reassure Toothless that the marks of his injuries were completely fine and a reasonable risk for the lifestyle they enjoyed.

He could see the human peering at him through some leaves she thought hid her. A Night Furies' vision is second to none in the dark, and he could track her easily if she were to run. But Toothless wondered why the girl was here in the first place, and why her facial features differed so much from everyone else he had seen around these lands. There was a tone of clarity to her fear. Something oddly familiar, from before... From when he was feared for destruction, and they called out his title when he attacked. Ran. Hid. She knew exactly what he was. What he had done. She was there.

He paced to the right of her position, pretending he had not seen her and was simply taking a walk. He brushed past several treetrunks until he was behind enough cover to know she could not see him. Silently, he pounced to a large, steady tree limb. He gained his balance, then leapt to another, taking care that his wings did not rustle any leaves and his paws gripped the bark as softly as possible. It was just his good fortune that the trees here were so large and solid, for it gave him an ideal position to look down on the interloper.

She had an axe, a journal of some kind (like Hiccup always has), and leathers adapted for warmth and strength. If she was aware of him looking down on her, she showed no sign. She knelt perfectly still. Not like a cat waiting to strike, but like a whelp that had gotten themselves in trouble and feared their sire's wrath.

He dropped, and landed heavily right in front of her. She opened her mouth as if to scream, but just grunted instead as she deftly swung her axe from it's hold and at his face. Toothless reels back and growls. He dances back as she strikes again, amazed at the brazen, sudden attack. Surely she realized he could kill her at any moment? Any yet she continued, relentless and fierce, swinging at him as he dodged and maneuvered around every strike. At one particularly forceful lunge towards him he misses the axehead by an inch and spins around to grab her vest by the collar. She yells and thrashes as he pads back, girl in his grasp, to the cave where Hiccup stares, wide eyed, at his catch.

:I didn't bring back breakfast, but this one sure is interesting. Real fighting spirit; Toothless remarked as he puts the spent girl down in front of him.

Hiccup can't speak. Can't believe what is in front of his eyes. The overly-casual remark from Toothless would normally be something to scoff at, and the young viking would quickly tell Toothless he's not all that. But he can't talk now. Obviously she can't either, because the blonde girl has her mouth agape and isn't moving a muscle.

So Toothless spoke for him. :This is one of your clanmates, isn't it? She knows what I am. And she fights like they did:. He sniffs at her, and recoils. :She smells like one of them:.

Despite the shock, Hiccup sniggers at that last remark.

"What is this?" A charged and confident voice, and it holds so much spite it's almost toxic. But there's curiosity too. She's cold, shivering in the pre-morning chill.

:It's weird, right? She shouldn't be here...: The dragon snorts and looks to Hiccup for an answer.

"You're cold. Here." Hiccup reaches beside him and gathers his blanket from it's resting place. It smells of dragon, and when he tries to pass it to her she instead reaches to his face, as if to confirm his reality. As if he were an apparition, or a ghost. Her fingers touch his face, and he freezes.

 

* * *

 

 

She takes the opportunity to examine him closer, but moves slowly as the large Night Fury looms over her and growls a warning.

She can't help but look over where his vest and undershirt are torn and a scar overlaid with scales lays over his skin. It's so obvious how similar they are to those on his dragon, as if the beast had infected Hiccup somehow to change his very being. She had seen how comfortable he was to live like the Night Fury does, eating wild game and nesting in caves. Even his clothes gave it away; all dark colors to help him blend into the night and onto his dragon's back.

Finally, she takes the offered blanket, and sits back against the wall, defeated. The dragon blocks her only means of escape, and questions swim over her head.

"How?" was perhaps the biggest one.

It's not like Hiccup to speak in a manner that makes sense, she realizes straight afterwards.

"All the dragons that were attacking Berk.... Were under the control of an Alpha." It came out nasally, and he stuttered for a second. For a moment he had lost his strength and was the useless boy in Berk again.

Astrid nodded. She was content to let him explain, as haphazard as the explanation may be.

"When I shot down Toothless, it broke him from her control. I tried to tell you. I tried to tell everyone. But you wouldn't listen, so I left."

Astrid was conflicted and more than doubtful, but she kept her mouth shut.

"I injured Toothless when I shot him down, and it took alot of work to get him flying again. We made it this far, but his tailfin has grown back, and now I can't fit the harness I built for him anymore, and we can't fly because the fin didn't grow back right."

Hiccup coughed and readjusted his gloves, running his fingers over the scales on them as he did.

"It's all gone, Hiccup. I still can't believe it sometimes."

The comment caught Hiccup off-guard, and he seemed to freeze in shock for a second before steadying on his dragon... **His** _**Dragon**_ for support as memories suddenly came flooding back. But Hiccup hadn't lived through it, before narrowly escaping a burning island of his own dying people. She knew what it was like to live with the memories, the knowledge. Hiccup had no right, when the least he could have done was stayed.

"You must have thought me dead... Not many of us made it out."

 

* * *

 

 

 

Hiccup wanted to say something supportive. Of all the vikings, Astrid was perhaps the cruelest to him, always making him feel insignificant and unwanted in a magnitude only rivaled by his own father. She lived by the rules, and the code. Two things Hiccup couldn't bear to understand.

And yet he could not bring himself to hate her.

:The girl makes a good story, but she was ready to kill us. I saw it in her eyes. She looked at us like monsters:.

"You really tamed this dragon and flew all this way?"

It did sound crazy. But they had called Hiccup crazy for as long as he could remember. By chance, guile and impulse he had made it this far. He wondered if Astrid remembered Toothless, from the short time they had been forced back to Berk.

"There's more than that. A dragon had been living in a volcano past the mists. It controlled all the other dragons and made them raid our village for food. It only grew stronger, and by the time I found out, it was too late."

Astrid was clearly shocked, but she saw the truth in the words and begged him for more information.

"The Red Death. A dragon Alpha. They don't come around often, but when they do they can be great, or monstrous and selfish. This one was the latter. She grew so large she could not see, and chased us for miles despite her huge body."

:But she was slow, and clumsy. She didn't stand a chance:.

Hiccup smiled, getting a strange look from Astrid. Toothless' ego was endearing, if not a little overbearing at times.

"She killed herself when she couldn't pull up her own weight. There still might be bad dragons, but they aren't all monsters like we thought."

Toothless snorted. _:We_ killed her through skill and raw talent. None can defeat a Night Fury, and no one is as clever as Hiccup. Except me:.

Hiccup feels the lick across his face, carrying the tone of 'not serious, trust, love.' He smirks and impulsively moves to reciprocate the action, but stops. He becomes suddenly aware of the much more unbelievable truth Astrid would hate to understand. Unconsciously, he had been running his hand over Toothless' flank for comfort, as he did in every uncomfortable situation. He hardly spent any time far from Toothless, and they likely spent more time feeling each others touch in a day than without.

Their bond run to depths she would not just find disgusting, but absolutely _unfathomable._

_And so he couldn't afford to have her stay here._

"You killed a _dragon Alpha?_ But you couldn't even kill a Terrible Terror."

Toothless growls behind her.

"Not that that's a _bad_ thing, just..."

Hiccup snatched something out of his satchel and tossed it to her. Astrid rolled it around in her hand, which it almost filled. "Her smallest tooth."

She never stopped stealing glances at the blackened scar on his face. Occasionally she would look at the saddle and harness lying against the cave wall. She looked like she had arrived in a strange world where everything was made of questions and the answers were unrecognizable. She blew the hair out of her eyes. Shook her head.

Hiccup couldn't think of anything else to say. He didn't have to. When he next looked, she was asleep under the blanket.

:I think she was watching us all night:.

That's a given. Astrid was always on-guard. But it was also clear how exhausted she was after being bested and carried around by a Night Fury, so it made sense that she could not stay awake any longer.

:I'm tired too; He responds.

Toothless gives a small nod. He scorches the rock floor at the back of the cave and lets Hiccup take his place against his chest, where the heat of his body radiated most and his heart thumped gently against his partner.

 

 

* * *

 

                                                                                               **- _Years ago_ -**

 

 

Toothless yawned, opening his maw and scratching behind his earplate awkwardly with a clumsy paw. Midday, sunny, brisk. Hiccup lay beside him at his flank, idly scribbling in his notebook. Some kind of design for the tailfin. An improvement, or modification. The world turned around them, the small island of Berk unknowing and somewhat uncaring of their presence in this secluded cove. Toothless lazily watched as shadows moved under the surface of the water, sending such very faint ripples across it's surface, as Hiccup likewise made ripples against Toothless with his busied movements, moving for a different drawing angle or to turn a page.

Toothless was so relaxed with his rider by his side it was reaching a state of sereneness; bliss. He wasn't quite tired enough to fall asleep, and he enjoyed every little muttering Hiccup would make as he schemed and drew. He now understood a great deal of the common Viking tongue, aswell as it's runic calligraphy, and understood a great deal of what Hiccup said, even if he could not respond in kind. In the same vain, Toothless' range of body language and facial expressions were well known to his best friend, and they managed to communicate fairly effectively through both means.

And that only made it all the more painful that Hiccup was only a Human and could not start to comprehend the depth of emotion Toothless held. The young Viking was so clever, but not clever enough to talk to Toothless the way _dragons do,_ and he worried that was the only way they would be able to know their feelings.

He hummed, thrumming a gentle vibration through his entire body. He could try. He couldn't bear not to. Hiccup breaks his concentration and places his hand on the dragon's side.

"What is it, Bud?"

Toothless nudges his head under Hiccup and pushes the teen up with his nose. It's one of his favorite things to do, to smell all Hiccup's scents and move him at the same time, a subtle way to take control over the boy, yet gentle. Toothless places his outstretched paw over the patch of drawing dirt in front of them, marked and scorched as it is from such repetitive use. He runs the hefty paw in an arc, clearing a great swathe of the dirt. Then, he points a claw to Hiccup's mind.

:Listen to me; he says.

Hiccup looks at Toothless in confusion, not hearing the words at all. The dragon growls and repeats the actions slowly.

:Try:.

Hiccup looks baffled as he realizes what his best friend has requested. "You want me to stop thinking? Yeah, and I want you to stop manhandling me every time I return." He smirks, grabs a stick and runs it in circles through the pure, unmarked dirt.

"Bite me."

It's not a challenge, but all Toothless can thing of is how much he would like to oblige that very request, to sink his teeth into Hiccup's delicate skin, hear him feel it, and know they are linked as Dragons, as Mates, as they are linked in every other way. He reacts to impudence in the way Dragons do, however, and skulks off to his tree, casting angry loathing glances at Hiccup all the way there until his tail is wrapped around the branch and his eyes are closed so he doesn't have to look at a Hiccup who won't do what he wants and can instead imagine one who will.

And with a dragon's clear, vivid and endless imagination, that creates a very satisfying scene that leads into a dream of them together, nestled in a warm cave, an unrealistically complaint Hiccup that will do everything his Fury demands, scratch Toothless on his neck in the right places, not the ones that make him win arguments.

Hiccup sighed as he watched the sun reach the treeline. He would have to leave an angry and confusing Toothless to return to an angry or at the very least disgruntled Stoic. As he turned away from the hanging Night Fury in his tree, the teen failed to notice the growing smile on it's face or it's quiet gurgling at the wonderful dream enveloping him.

 

* * *

 

Hiccup reached the treeline surrounding Berk. An axehead slammed firmly into the tree next to him and an incredulous face stared him down.

"You think you can just skip out on Dragon Training two days in a row, Haddock? That hiding out in the woods for whatever demented reason is actually okay?"

It was such a typical sentence to hear from Astrid these days, the prime reason why she had turned from a desire to an annoyance in Hiccup's mind. He knew that she was much too focused in her own self-centered narrow goals to actually pursue Hiccup and see what captivated him so much as to deny a central program of her culture. Her own sense of self worth was much too high, her devotion to the pursuit of glory through slaughter so ingrained and supported by those around her that she felt it paramount above all else.

Hiccup still felt the sting of her first real spiteful comment to him in the dragon arena. _No, it's not a joke to me. My parent's war will not be mine._ How he wished to tell her about the most caring, loving dragon in the world. How very, very wrong she was about everything. And yet Toothless came first, and Hiccup had already realized he would do anything to protect the one he had worked so hard for. Toothless had created the best times in his life, and he wouldn't let anyone endanger him. As if they would even believe Toothless was anything other than some heartless monster. No, he could never tell anyone about the wonderful creature he shot down and then nursed to health in that cove.

"Hi, Astrid." It was more of a groan than a greeting.

"Enjoy your dinner. Stoic knows about you skiving off. Even if you can work those little tricks on the dragons it doesn't mean you can just take several days off for no reason."

Dinner was awful. Stoic said nothing at all and neither did his son. They ate in silence until Hiccup finished his plate and ran upstairs. He hoped Stoic didn't notice the smell of dragon on him, after a day of no dragon arena.

He ran up the stairs. He couldn't stop thinking about what Toothless had done. The dragon was so stubborn and moody, and Hiccup knew what he wanted to say to him. That a dragon, the enemy of his people, meant more to him than anything else ever could. That the last weeks had taught him more than the entire rest of his life, and his wisest clanmate, could hope to. He was happy. Toothless made him happy. So if the dragon wanted something from him, he should happily oblige. It was his fault, after all. Toothless shouldn't even be crippled like this, or stuck with him on an island of angry vikings. He went to sleep, resolving to run to his dragon first thing next morning and do whatever he wanted.

 

* * *

 

Hiccup woke before his father and left as quiet as he could. He didn't stop to get breakfast, the fin he made was working well and they flew together well enough now that he could fish with his dragon. He made it to the cove and searched for his friend. Toothless bounded up behind him and knocked Hiccup to the floor, the boy landing with an 'oof' as Toothless proceeds to enthusiastically lick all over Hiccup's body as the small viking laughs and tries to escape from the Night Fury's unyielding tongue.

"Missed me, huh?" Hiccup chuckles.

Toothless croons.

"I missed you too, Bud!" He jumps up and wraps his arms around the huge scaly neck as far as he can, face against Toothless' jaw. It was a relief to see he hadn't taken yesterday's jab to heart. It seemed more and more like Toothless would value Hiccup's presence higher than anything else.

Toothless breathes in his rider's scent, covered as he now is in dragon saliva. He gurgles happily, gently.

Their faces are inches apart. Hiccup sighs contently back at him. Toothless moves an inch closer, and Hiccup does the same. With a magic breakthrough of lost restraint they touch lips, Hiccup's hands still on each flank of the dragon's neck, feeling the vibrations within as he closes his eyes.

Hiccup blinks, breaks off. He looks at his hands and wonders at what he had just done. Why? How? He feels a tear roll down his cheek.

_I can't do that. I can't pretend at what I can't have. I can't get my hopes up like this._

He doesn't see the Night Fury sadly run his paw slowly over the dirt. But he hears it, a soft scraping. He knows what it means, but he doesn't know why. He does know that he wants to know why. He wants it now more than anything. He pads over to Toothless and places his hand on the dragon's paw as it continues to drift over the abused dirt.

He clears his mind, letting himself fall into the comfort Toothless' soft scales provide.

:-and you never listen and you always cause trouble and you always leave, but you're always so very clever and you're all so good for making me fly again, and I lo-:

Hiccup was so calm, and so happy. He didn't know how he instantly recognized the voice in his head as Toothless, but it didn't really matter. What mattered was that he could now talk to his dragon about the complex things. _The things he felt._

:Hiccup?:

Nothing had ever made him as afraid, and also as excited, as the emotions over the powerful beast now talking to him. All the crazy and impossible of what he had done to this point, however, seemed like nothing to the challenge before him now. He kissed a dragon. He shouldn't have. But what else could he do?

:Hey. It's okay:. Toothless' voice – soft and smooth as it was, with an underlying power and coarseness. Hiccup was fuzzily aware he was crying, and of the warm wet forked tongue cleaning the tears from his cheeks as they fell.

Hiccup focused his thoughts and directed them at the dragon. He didn't know if it would work, but he needed to try.

:It's not! I kissed you, Tooth, and that's not right! _I can't- We can't._ **:** Talking back was a matter of thinking _at_ Toothless. Hiccup wondered for a moment if it was all his imagination.

:Oh:. Was the only reply. Toothless looked defeated, and he paced over to his tree, leaving Hiccup to wonder at the sullen reaction. All his hopes of understanding and coercing dissipated.

Hiccup sat and threw stones into the pond, watching the fish scatter with each rock that hit the placid surface and occasionally glancing at Toothless' direction to the the beautiful dragon pretending to sleep, pretending to not watch Hiccup.

The scrawny teen eventually tired and turned his back on the cove, scrambling out and wiping his eyes of the tears shed. He was confused, and angry, and he punched every branch on the way home. All of his deepest locked dreams had revealed themselves today, but they were all forbidden and he couldn't bring himself to cross such a threshold.

Could he?


	3. Outsider

Toothless knew a thing or two about using his impressive amount of power and muscle to gently and skillfully handle a human body. It was something he _had_ to know, as much as Hiccup had to conversely know how to us his smaller and weaker frame to manipulate a great and dangerous beast.

So when he worked his large paws under the girl's small body and hooked his claws around, taking great care not to cause a scratch, Astrid did not stir. This was something he had never imagined having to do, _carrying anyone other than Hiccup_. Even _touching_ anyone other than the boy was a foreign and strange feeling. He couldn't stop thinking about how bulky this viking felt, and it was this that reminded Toothless he was not in fact carrying Hiccup back to the cave, as his muscle memory would have him believe, but instead quietly removing a strange inconvenience from the life they had formed together.

When Astrid awoke the next morning, she would find herself unharmed and comfortable under the same blanket Hiccup had provided before. Toothless could tell he had more questions for the girl. She **certainly** had more for him. And yet, he was scared. His old clanmate had terrified him more than any danger they had encountered. The memory of when he first encountered and roared at the boy was still vivid in his mind, but Hiccup showed more fear now than he did then.

He slowly placed her down where he had found her, under a battered and weathered spruce. If the rain were to return, the leaves should shelter her. If the wind were to pick up, the area was dense enough in foliage to buffer it somewhat. Sunrise lay about an hour away.

When Toothless got back, Hiccup walked slowly over and greeted him with as much of his body as he possibly could; He wrapped his arms as far around the dragon's large neck as he could and laid his head against the scaly bumps of his forehead just below his earplates. He instantly shared his thoughts with the dragon.

:I don't know how Astrid found us. I've been going over it in my mind, but it's just all so crazy that she is _here.._ :

Toothless licked softly at the nape of his neck.

:I have so many questions, don't know who I could even ask:...

Hiccup leaves the comment hanging in the air as he retrieves a flagon of a clear liquid the locals seemed to enjoy drinking. Unlike the mead of his home, this had no mellow taste. It was harsh and very potent. Toothless was still undecided on whether he was okay with Hiccup stealing the drink and then using it to fog over his anxiety with a blanket of inebriation.

Once he had got his hands on a good amount and Toothless had to drag him back to their cave from the storehouse they had broken into once Hiccup blacked out. Toothless generally despised stealing, but taking that poisonous stuff from humans seemed like doing them a favor.

He _generally_ trusted Hiccup not to overdo it, but still watched him closely sip at the water skin. Dragons could fly and burn and tear things apart to relieve their anger or stress, but humans weren't so good at any of those things, so they were liable to poison themselves instead, he knew. Hiccup was smart, sure, but he still did some very stupid things.

Hiccup suddenly looked away from the cave mouth and at Toothless. :You haven't had anything to drink for a day:, the Dragon Rider noted.

 _He's right._ Toothless suddenly noticed how thirsty he really was, and hungry. Hiccup tipped the rest of his vodka into his maw. It took alot to have any effect on a dragon, and Toothless was reassured he, at least, would be clear-headed for their hunt this morning. You can't just _get drunk_ when your fending for yourself in the wilderness.

* * *

 

Astrid woke up with a start. A rodent was nibbling on a loose strand of her golden hair, and she desperately brushed her hand along it, making the rat squeak and run off. Her hair was valued almost as much as her axe. It _was_ clean. Until last night. There was something about last night that sew seeds of discontent into every corner of her mind, and it nibbled at her nerves in a way she couldn't fathom.

 _Gods, how long was I out for?_ Anger shot through her. _Hiccup?! How did I let him throw me out? Where is he? Where is that stupid dragon? How did I fall asleep?_

As she angrily stomped through the forest ideas of revenge swum in her head. She was about to reach the cave where she found them when reason hit her. If she went back there, that Night Fury would just pick her up and dump her back out here. She was the best warrior she knew, and she couldn't get one hit on it. The thing was _fast._ So fast no human could ever lay hands on it unless it wanted them to.

_Why did it want Hiccup to?_

It was something she needed to find out, and as she stood there under the rising sun, a plan formed.

Under a mountain not far from here, people brought offerings and gifts to a dragon. The dragon had never hurt anyone, and by all accounts it was a savior to the people. Many claimed it had helped them in times of need, saving lives by driving off predators and helping lost travelers. Others claimed it didn't exist at all, and the roars they heard from the cave under the mountain were rocks collapsing. Noone who had searched for the dragon had found it, and searching the cave only found it bare.

But if Astrid could find a dead boy and the dragon that so explicitly cared for him, surely she could find a dragon. _If Hiccup can get a dragon to help him so can I._

She didn't like the sound of that. The plan was crazy.

She stopped and looked back.

Nothing.

A raven crowed at her. Perched on it's branch, it shuffled around and ruffled it's glossy feathers. She scowled and continued, past the local village and up the cliff face.

The cave was large and worked it's way into the mountain a fair way. Sunlight shone most the way in, however the cave turned and she had to light a torch to find the end. She sighed and rested against the hard stone. Nothing, of course. The kind dragon did not exist, and it would make sense, as all her experience to this point showed that dragons were not kind at all.

Then, a sound behind her. Like something soft and padded dropping onto the hard stone behind the rock pillar she rested on. Her breath caught in her throat. Padded footsteps worked their way towards her until a dark head poked out from behind the rock face. Astrid reached for her axe, then stopped. If this was the dragon they talked about, it could bring her to Hiccup. _That was the plan_ , she reminded herself, _and I didn't come all this way to kill one dragon_.

As it moved out into the open space, she saw it's earplates and sleek wings in full. Midnight black, smooth and limber, there was no mistaking the dragon for a Night Fury. And a female one, if Astrid's gut feeling was correct.

It approached her cautiously, never taking it's eyes off the axe. Astrid was caught, still in a state of shock that the dragon even showed itself. _If it's here, it must want something from me_ , she realized. But the dragon didn't dare to take one step closer while Astrid had the axe strapped to her back, and she balked at the idea of disarming for a dragon of all things.

After a moment, the Night Fury snorted at her and, with a wave of the head, started walking to the cave entrance. Astrid had no other move than to follow the dragon. She didn't like taking orders, and definitely not from an animal, but she had no way to tell it what she wanted. She had to admit, the thing wasn't stupid. It hid very well, and communicated what it wanted with great aptitude for a creature with no language.  But was it smart enough to say, distract the other Night Fury long enough for her to get some answers out of Hiccup? _How did Night Furies act around each other?_ She found herself wondering as the dragon led her down the mountain. _If this is a female and the other is a male, than surely they will have a compulsion to mate, right? That's how nature works. All wild creatures must reproduce, and for a dragon as rare as the Night Fury, I'm pretty much doing a favor bringing these two together._

They had been walking for a while now, and Astrid was still caught up in her thoughts about how this plan could possibly work. All she wanted was some answers, but so long as that dragon was- THAT DRAGON! It was standing right in front of her. It and the male were staring at each other, unblinking, like some kind of contest. She sized them both up as she watched the tense showdown. If they had no language, then they must communicate through sound or posture. Yet neither made a sound or moved. One time, the female moved her head, and Astrid followed her gaze to see she was looking at the male's shoulder. There, clear as day, were a small set of tooth marks, distinctly human imprinted in his scales. Why would something- Some _ONE_ do that? It came as a shock that dragonscale was even malleable enough to accommodate such an imprint at all. She was almost curious enough to touch the scale of the Night Fury beside her, and see if it was as soft as the mark made it out to be. Yet the question of why the mark was even there _Human Teeth?_ and the fact that these were dangerous animals, stopped her.

Over time, the two dragons grew increasingly agitated with each other, and it seemed something set the male off. He roared at the female- so loud and harsh her ears hurt -and stormed off the way he had came, checking behind him as he stalked off to ensure noone followed or attacked. His missing tailfin was obvious. It was definitely Hiccup's dragon.

So where was he?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

                                                                                           - _Years Ago_ -

Hiccup didn't get much sleep. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed Toothless was the crux of his hope, his ambition, and.... More. The dragon had been trying to tell him something, but he was so arrogant. The last thing Hiccup wanted was to act as blindingly ignorant as the rest of the vikings. But if it was true, and he really did feel that way about Toothless, and maybe he felt the same way aswell. It seemed ridiculous. The more he tried to bury his strange thoughts like his head under the pillow the more demanding they became until he gave up and left the bed to begin quietly pacing. Hiccup had done so much for the dragon, and he always would, because Toothless had opened his world from it's small cage of inadequacy and let him fly.

And Hiccup had rejected him when he was needed most.

_How could I go to so much effort to help him fly, and then just push him away? I don't know how I **talked** to a dragon, but I know how much he cares about me, and I know how much he wants me to understand..._

As dire as the situation was, he still had his father to contend with and the man would wake the town with his shouting if he knew Hiccup was sneaking out. Worse, he would want to know _why_ he was trying to leave in the middle of the night and being so quiet about it. Until now, Stoick had let it slide. The man was chief of Berk after all, and he couldn't be minding his son all the damn time. And yet everyone knew Hiccup was absent from his duties half the day, and there was only so far his reputation as a dragon master would get him.

Hiccup opened his bedroom window as slowly and carefully as he possibly could considering the urgency he felt just to see his friend again. It was never completely quiet, and he winced at every small noise the wood made on metal. Sneaking over the roof was worse, and dropping to the ground below when you couldn't see anything in the darkness had hurt him in the past. Eventually, he succeeded in making it to the treeline, and looked back at the house.

No lights on, quiet.

Good. He was ready to leave the island at a moments notice, should he need to. The thought scared him, but the upcoming end of dragon training scared him more. He could never kill a dragon, let alone harm one. He still had no idea what to do if they forced him to hurt one, and the thought stuck with him as he stumbled through the dark forest. As he neared the cove, Hiccup slowed down and paid alot more attention to his footsteps and the amount of noise he was making. He knew how perceptive Toothless was, and he didn't want to alert him until he had decided what it was he was doing. He crouched behind a rock with his hands on the cold stone and peered over into the cove.

Toothless was peering into the shallow pool with focused eyes and a serious expression. Every now and again, he would swipe into the water at a fish that entered his reach. As he watched, Hiccup grew more and more despondent as the dragon never seemed to have any luck catching anything, and he knew even if he did it would not make for much of a meal. Still, it was impressive that Toothless could spot the fish at all in such darkness. Hiccup noted it mentally as another fascinating aspect of his dragon; _Of course he can see well in the dark, but just how well can he see into water?_ Water can play tricks on your eyes, what seems to be under the surface in front of you is actually a bit to the left or right. _Is that what is causing him trouble, or are the fish just too quick?_

It was all too tempting just to go down there and try to help, and he almost did. But Hiccup knew that if he did they could never escape the subject of their feelings for each other, and Toothless would _know_ why he's awake and here at this time of night, when he never had been before. Toothless gave up on fishing after awhile and walked over to his tree, ruffling his sleek black wings as he did so.

 _And his powerful muscles flexed, making the onyx-black scales reflect and shimmer in the moonlight. Pearlescent drops of water are thrown from his shaking black mass. He deftly prowls to the tree and pounces onto the branch, like it's no effort at all._ Hiccup almost slapped himself for letting the thoughts take hold. He had studied Toothless extensively as a matter of curiosity, and marveled at his physiology and the things his body as capable of. Yet he had not thought of Toothless as _attractive.._ But he couldn't help staring at Toothless' muscled flanks and strong wing joints. He found himself remembering the kiss, and lost track of time for more than a second.

He turned and sneaked back into the forest.

* * *

About an hour later he returned. Toothless had fallen asleep hanging from a branch of the tree in the north side of the cove. Hiccup placed his basket of fish down in the usual spot and waited to see if the smell would rouse Toothless from his slumber. **  
**

The dragon's nose twitched. Then he dropped to the ground as smoothly and silently as a blanket dropping to the floor. Without even opening his eyes, it seemed like he dreamwalked with his nose guiding him to the fish. Then he caught the scent of something else and stopped, and opened his eyes.

Toothless looked confused.

:Why would Hiccup? When Hiccup is angry at me why bring fishes? To tease?:

Hiccup was startled for a moment as he readjusted to the unfamiliar feeling of thought-speak.

:I want answers. Toothless gets no fishes until he answers my questions:.

Hiccup wanted to slap himself for letting himself speak in the same manner as Toothless, and he prayed the dragon would not think it was teasing. It actually seemed more comfortable to speak this way, in thought-speak at least. He wasn't sure if he imagined the soft relaxing effect Toothless' words had on him, as if he had drunk just the right amount of mead to provide a warm buzz. He _was_ sure that Toothless had a way of speaking, _and_ acting, that made him smile. 

:How can Hiccup stop me from just taking fishes?: Toothless bared his teeth, growled aggressively and opened his wings wide in a show of power.

It was all a show, and Hiccup knew it.

:Toothless would never. Then who would bring fishes?:

:Maybe Toothless should eat Hiccup instead for larger meal:.

Hiccup smirked. :Hiccup is all bones and you know it:.

The dragon chortled. His eyes sometimes drifted from Hiccup to the basket of fish.

Hiccup placed both hands on the lid of the large basket and pushed himself up onto it as a seat. He could feel a mix of hunger and the need for affection in the dragon. For a second he is tempted to feed Toothless the fish and then let the dragon nuzzle close to him and share their warmth. But now it seemed that a good scratch and a close hug would not be enough, and they would both be left wanting. Worse, they might lose control completely. Hiccup tried to hold back his recurring thoughts on how dragons might proceed _after_ kissing, but he was fairly sure there was little foreplay involved.

The truth was, Toothless' affection was more than a little daunting. The dragon was capable of being careful, yes, but he was still a towering beast compared to Hiccup, with many deadly attributes that could very well harm a small human, if only accidentally.

:Hiccup should not have done all:- Toothless gestured with his head at the basket -:when it is so cold and dark:.

:I needed to. I saw how hungry you were:. Hiccup had ideas for a prosthetic tailfin that could stand high-speed plunges into water, so Toothless could dive under and catch fish like he imagined Night Furies did in the wild. He wouldn't have known the dragon _could_ swim, were it not for that mishap last week on one of their training flights. However it seemed the more trouble they got into, the more they learned.

Was this trouble, what he was doing now?

:Tell me how you feel about me, and I'll give you all the fish you want. Maybe a massage:. Hiccup wasn't much of a conversationalist in any context, but the promise was genuine. His desire to be close with the dragon was only slightly overshadowed by the need for answers.

Toothless kneaded his claws into the ground, a telltale sign of discomfort and angst. Hiccup found himself washed over by a sudden tide of worry - Was the question too sudden? Was he not _meant_ to question?

:Hiccup is-:

 He grumbled, shook his head in small motions and flattened his earplates back.

:Hiccup is what I want for a mate:.

The young Viking is struck.

"But HOW?!" He almost yells. It was clear from the first day how intrigued he was by the great and majestic Night Fury, offspring of lightning and death itself. Everybody already knew what a freak Hiccup was, an outcast and weirdo. It still seemed like a stretch that he would come to have such deep and intrinsic feelings as to see their bond as more than friendship. But it was far more believable than a dragon, having been cut down from the sky, would forgive and foster affection at an equally deep level.

:No _'How'_ needed _:,_ Toothless growled _. Like this was all so simple and Hiccup was the one being unreasonable._

He could see how Toothless was holding himself back now, because the dragon's ire had turned into simple agitation and annoyance. The Night Fury wanted to leap at him and knock some sense into the small viking. _  
_

But maybe it was all that simple. And Hiccup allowed himself, just this one time, to not think like himself, and see all the potential problems with the situation, or like a Viking, where a dragon was an enemy to be killed and nothing else, and the thought of  _this_ was not just unthinkable but disgusting and horrid.

But to think like a dragon and see only the emotion and the pure beauty of their bond.

And it was wonderful. His only wish right now was to show Toothless just how wonderful that way of thinking was, and how much he understood. So he let himself keep smiling, because he suddenly realized he had a stupid goofy grin all over his face, and he let himself press as close as he could. He looked into Toothless' deep black pupils and felt the loving reciprocation of a beast understood and understanding.

 They kissed, and in that blur of absolute bliss the world tumbled and Toothless somehow had him up against the rockface and starting to hungrily shed the teenager's clothes.

 But he couldn't climb that mountain right now, as eager as Toothless seemed to be to drag him up it. He pressed back, and with a pleasant surprise the huge dragon fell backwards against Hiccup's force. Hiccup crouched on all-fours over his dragon, as possessive and managerial as he had ever been.

 :Not that far, Bud. Not today, at least:.

And as much as the dragon wanted it, Hiccup saw him restrain himself. Was he really this capable of being dominant? Hiccup could only guess at the ingrained Night Fury impulse to rut as passionately as possible. But when Hiccup made his goodbye and left to attend to his Viking responsibilities and facade of somewhat-normalcy, the dragon obediently managed a heartfelt goodbye kiss and merely watches him leave.

 

 


	4. Grasp

The day had gone by uneventfully. There were no traces of deer, sight nor smell, and it was taking it's toll on Hiccup. A mile back, he had collapsed agsainst a tree with his waterskin and refused to move until he saw a deer for himself. The smile on his face had grown lazy and his eyes clouded.

Toothless meanwhile sniffed the air for the musky scent of deer, and instead smelt dragon. Female dragon. As he stood there under the shade of a Fir, it grew more and more distinctive.

Night Fury. And getting closer. Whoever she was, she wasn't trying to be subtle. The dark shape almost matched him in size, silently pacing through the forest towards him with a human at her heels.

:Night Fury; he addresses her.

:Night Fury; she responds. Her voice is level and unreadable.

:Toothless:. He said it blunt, but respectfully.

:Tender:. _An interesting title._

:What business does the human have with you?:

Her head tilted. :She came to my cave from yours. I would imagine her grievance is with you:.

Toothless bristled. _She had been monitoring him?_

:Don't look so shocked. These are my lands. I'm merely keeping an eye on my guests:.

:What would you have of me?:

:I'm curious. Who is your human, and who is this?: She questioned, with a discreet nod to the blonde viking beside her.

:Hiccup is my mate. This one is from his clan:.

She narrows her eyes. :I didn't ask about your mate:.

:You did:.

She growls. :I did **not** :.

:We are mated. I have dug my teeth into him, and he has sunk his teeth into me:.

Her eyebrow twitches. : **A lie** :.

Toothless growls a warning. She stands defiant opposite him. The female Fury could not accept their relationship as much as anyone else they had met thus far.

:You have taken a human to your nest and made him your dream-wanderer? You have trained him to hunt and fly and talk?:

:Yes. A thousand times, Yes:.

She arms her teeth. :It is not possible. Humans cannot learn such things:.

:Hiccup is smarter than many Night Furies:. _We all believed humans were so ignorant and unwilling, if not incapable of learning._

:Is he a skinchanger?:

:No: _Well, at least not yet. I have changed him, but I don't know the extent._

:You disrespect your own kind. This boy is not fit for whelping, and I do not believe he is capable of dreamwalking either:.

:Believe what you will, I did not take him as a mate to please you or anyone else:.

:You are like any other young Whelp. Foolish. You cannot fly:.

Toothless couldn't stand it. He roared at the female and stomped off, checking behind him in case she, or the viking girl, followed. With his appetite lost, he instead followed the scent back to his rider.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                    - _Years Ago_ -

:You humans are so strange; he mused, licking over Hiccup's shoulder blade. :Here is where your wings should be, and yet...:

He ran his tongue all along the nubs of Hiccup's spine, leaving them coated in warm saliva.

:These should be spikes. Everything stays under your skin though, doesn't it? You're so soft on the outside, and a bit furry too:.

Hiccup smiled. The sun was rising to it's apex in the sky, yet he lay oblivious draped over his dragon's torso. As the day wore on, he felt less and less giddy over how well last night had gone and more and more apprehensive over how it perhaps _should_ have gone. He didn't want to break Toothless' good mood, and yet...

:I didn't- I mean I should have been more prepared for-:

The words just didn't seem to come to him. Speaking to Toothless like this was so simple, like something he felt he knew all along but was just somehow inaccessible before yesterday. But speaking about _this_ was harder than thinking about it. He couldn't even get it straight in his head.

:I made a mistake:.

:It's only human to make mistakes. But that was no mistake. If I went on like I was last night, I could have hurt you:.

:It's only _human_ :. Hiccup scoffed. The tone Toothless had used was elitist. Which was strange, in itself. Not one day had he even known Toothless could speak, he could also speak _with an inflection to his thoughts_.

:Well of course. Night Furies don't make mistakes:.

Toothless was very tricky, and powerful. Kind of like Fenrir, the great monstrous wolf. It was said that Fenrir would bite off the hand of Týr and kill Odin come Ragnarök, and Hiccup knew Toothless was just as powerful and ambitious. But he wasn't a _god_.

:You're not perfect:.

:I'm not? What do you know? We never talked about each other:.

That wasn't completely true, and Toothless knew it. Hiccup had shared a lot about his life in the past couple of weeks, and he could tell the dragon had picked up Viking enough to understand the meaning of his words. He had even taught him their written language. He had discovered quite a lot about Toothless as well, of course. The dragon was kind and giving to those he trusted, but also arrogant and possessive. He was prideful. He gave away his feelings and desires as much with his eyes and actions than his words. If not more. He loved fish, but when Hiccup brought him an eel he would not talk to the boy for the rest of the day.

:We can talk. Talk? Or do you have another term for this?:

:Talk:. Toothless huffed. It wasn't like he expected this to be _easy_ , but the whole thing had washed over him like some great wave of confusion and wanting that he couldn't help but see through. It wasn't that Hiccup was _difficult_. It was that Hiccup was _tricky_ and _different_ and _so very clever_ and _determined in a way that only makes sense to Hiccup._ Yes, he wanted Hiccup to be with him, but that didn't mesh with his instincts at all and  _that_ was difficult.

:Then tell me about yourself, and I'll tell you about me:.

: I don't remember much. Ever since I hit my head I've been trying to piece it all together. But everything before is still fuzzy:.

Hiccup felt guilt strike him. _Did I cause Toothless to forget everything he knew? I saw how hard he must have hit the ground...  
_

:I know I had a mother. I didn't know her for very long, but she taught me all I needed:. Toothless tried to concentrate, and the feeling of Hiccup massaging his belly with subtle movements of his soft skin seemed to be helping. But there was a big gap in his recollection between his whelping and now that no thinking would capture.

:I guess I'm kind of the same:. It was more of a thought than a comment, but Hiccup was more willing to share with Toothless in the hopes that maybe it could erase the last of the tension between them. There was truth to it, in any case. Hiccup had always felt he must have his mother's spirit in every other way except stubbornness.

:But since I left my birthnest my whole memory is clouded and I don't really know what I've been doing:.

It was difficult to concentrate under the sudden weight of guilt. Hiccup was still trying to understand the new intricacies of dragon language and intimacy. He wasn't to sure he could muster the energy to work through this right now. But a realization hit him.

:Do you know why the dragons attack us?:

:Because you guys attack them; Toothless responded, nonchalant.

_Them, he said. Does that mean he's different?_

:But there must be some reason how they know how to all meet up and strike us in a big organized attack, right? Like, a leader:.

Toothless perked his ears and hummed. 

:I wish I could tell you. Perhaps an Alpha?...:.

:But you guys can be tricked:.

Toothless growled at that remark.

:You can be tricked aswell. It's underhanded and dirty to use my few weaknesses against me:.

:What is it about that grass? You just turn into a big pussycat, like you can't _help_ but roll around in it; Hiccup smiles.

Toothless' face turns sour and he smacks Hiccup with he end of his tail.

Hiccup steadies himself. Thinks.

:We can fly. Today. We can go to Helheim's Gate and find what my Father never could:.

:I don't know. Maybe we could wait a bit?:

:You don't want me getting hurt; Hiccup surmised.

:This is the most dangerous place in the world we're talking about here. Even if you are as uncatchable and undefatable as a Night Fury, it's....:

It wasn't like Hiccup was going to take no for an answer, no matter how unflinching as the dragon seemed to be right now. So he slowly brought his hands up the dragon's body, tracing lines over the dark scales and making Toothless hum with a growing content that put his unease to rest. But as Hiccup got close to the sensitive parts on Toothless' neck, the dragon shifted quickly and growled.

:Don't think I'm that easy to fool:.

Toothless rolled over, his ears still folded back so he could hear every move his partner made.

:Come and rest. You have been through to much to be making plans to get yourself hurt; the big dragon added.

:I can't just ignore all of the things we're up against right now:. He had meant to make a forceful statement, but it came out as a whine.

It took another hour for Toothless to let his guard down and give Hiccup the chance he needed to sneak away. The teenager gave him one last look and noted how hungry the dragon still looked in his reverie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I think I've managed to make this chapter make sense with the previous chapter I currently have (Or as I call it 'tamed chapter 3') and the much more physical and not at all PG Rated chapter I started with. In either case, the two would be feeling that things could have gone differently in a better way, and would harbor some feeling of regret that they couldn't make their first real romantic encounter as perfect as it should be. Of course, we know that there is a natural discord between two species as different as these two and they realize that aswell, but it still doesn't stop that feeling of regret.


	5. Accused

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest, the start of this chapter is a headache beyond reasoning I just don't know what to do with.

Hiccup had made it back to the village. He was hungry, and so far from being content. But he was safe, and Toothless was still a mystery. But a _fun_ mystery, and maybe one he could unravel, if they ever made it through the next few days alive.

His stomach ached. It was hard to think about anything but food, and the cupboards were all bare as usual. He ran down the stairs two at a time and barged the front door open. The village was lively with midday activity; vikings were hauling timber planks, chatting and running errands, and they all gave Hiccup a friendly greeting as he ran to the docks. From here no reasonable course of action showed itself. He had come here to get food for Toothless, but he was starting to feel quite ravenous himself. Taking a fishing boat out himself was out of the question, and he had no leverage to ask any of the fishermen for a part of their haul.

Or so he thought. He didn't see Snotlout's father until the man was staring right down at him with a whole lot of fish. But strangely, the raucous man wasn't going anywhere with them. It was almost like he was waiting for someone to-

"Hiccup! Now I've noticed you're the type to gather a whole lot of fish from the docks and take them.... Somewhere? ... Got a whole lot of fish here. Want some? We can make a deal, Tit for tat." The words came from Spitelout unusually coherent and almost believable. Now that was something in itself, but the way Spitelout had noticed his strange need for net-loads of fish and the way he had aggressively pushed his pitch were astounding. But Hiccup had never received something for nothing.

"What do you want?"

"Straight to the point then. Okay. Put a good word in with your father, could you? That's all I ask, for a whole _big_ basket of fish." Spitelout almost managed a smile. He had clearly downed a few meads already today. It wasn't surprising to find him drunk at an early hour, or in trouble.

His son seemed almost reasonable in comparison.

Hiccup brushed a strand of hair out of his eye and agreed. He could wonder how to deal with his father later. More than likely, the Jorgenson family charm had landed Spitelout in some kind of trouble. With one foot already placed in the direction of the cove, he gathered his strength to half-drag, half-carry the fish to Toothless. Noone dared to question Hiccup as to his plans, but a few young Vikings pestered him on his way to the woods about just how he made the dragons back off and behave like that. Hiccup shrugged them off and worked over an idea in his mind as he walked the now familiar path to his dragon.

* * *

Hiccup scuffed his way down into the cove not even realizing the alien presence there. He thought Toothless was just pacing back and forth out of impatience, and yet that was _not_ behavior characteristic of a Night Fury. He was either guarding something, or someone.

"Toothless?"

The dragon simply growled and moved to the side. He had not taken his eyes off his prisoner yet, and he gazed down at Snotlout like the boy was a trap ready to spring. The dark haired viking was ragged and breathing heavily. It looked like he had been for awhile, too. His clothes were mudded and his eyes were watery and fearful. He was staring down the most frightening dragon known to his kind. 

Snotlout, usually quick with a snide remark or boast, stayed as still as possible. His eyes darted from Toothless to Hiccup. He whimpered, quiet. Brushed his nose with a dirty sleeve.

Hiccup pushed his dragon out of the way, offered the distressed boy a hand. He helped the burly viking up, almost falling over himself. Snotlout looked like he wanted to run, but Hiccup had a feeling Toothless wasn't going to let that happen.

:You will let him go:.

Either Toothless wasn't in a talking mood, or he couldn't. There was no reply except a huff and a paw scrape along the ground. He knew what a paw scrape meant; _'I'm not happy with this'._

:If you care about me at all, you will let him go. He will not speak of us, or any of this. But I will not see him _killed_ for being in the wrong place at the wrong time:.

The dragon hung his head. It wasn't like Toothless to admit defeat at a few words said, but his body language conveyed shame and sorrow.

Hiccup laid his arm out straight in the direction of the village. "I'm uh.. Going to let you go. He wanted to kill you, so you wouldn't be able to tell anyone... So, don't tell anyone, and we're good."

Snotlout slowly paced away. He clawed up the rockface with obvious effort, and kept checking behind him as though expecting to be tackled again by a creature twice his size.

 

* * *

 

He buried his face in his hands.

:Toothless. I'm so sorry:.

:You're sorry?! I'm the one that ruined everything. If it was up to you, it would have been planned and meticulously perfect:.

Hiccup gestured to the pile of fish he had dumped before his companion.

"These are my sorry... Fish."

That earned him a chortle from the weary Night Fury.

Toothless leaned in closer and carefully wrapped his bulky forearm around Hiccup, gently pulling him close against his earplates. He crooned softly as his own apology. It didn't seem nearly enough.

:You can... Lick me, if you want:. Hiccup smiled, nervous. It seemed so soon to start reconnecting, but Toothless' laughter was too genuine, and his happiness to see Hiccup back shone from under his sorrow.

The hesitation in Toothless was like a giant tide holding him back from his normal tenacious, energetic gung-ho-edness. He wanted so very badly to treat Hiccup like the precious treasure he saw him as, and he wanted also so very badly to make his very physical greeting with his Bonded. Not that they were really there yet, but it was not in a young dragon's nature to take such a thing at a crawling pace. He armed his teeth, pulled gently with one at the collar of Hiccup's vest to expose the skin between his shoulder and neck, and licked ever so slowly and gently there.

It was preemption. Drakes would not lick so soft on another mate's hide, so now he knew of his ability to adapt for what he wanted. Needed.

They finally turned their eyes to the fish. Hiccup pulled his knife and began carefully slicing one open. Toothless watched him with a look of almost derision, but mostly curiosity. Once the dragon had wolfed down two fish himself he inspected the process closely. When Hiccup skewered a gutted cod onto a stick he happily provided a gentle flame to cook it. The human way of eating looked finicky and overly labour-intensive, but it had the same sense of craftsmanship that Hiccup had put into his artificial fin.

The mood began to relax a few fish into the meal, and they began talking.

:I'm jealous of Hiccup's hands:.

:Why? Because I can make stuff? But your paws have their own use. I couldn't stamp out a fire like you, or hunt:.

:Human hands are useful for more than just making stuff, or writing. Hiccup's hands are also good for touching:.

:Toothless?:

:I cannot touch like Hiccup can:.

Hiccup had never seen the dragon as embarrassed as he did now (actually, he didn't know Toothless could be embarrassed until now). Another thing he hadn't considered is how the dragon's dangerous physical characteristics could be a curse aswell as a blessing. There were times when Toothless would have loved opposable digits instead of sharp claws.

"Oh- You... Yeah, I guess you can't. Huh." He placed a hand on Toothless' flank.

Toothless shuffled a little, nervous. The dragon started worrying he had done something wrong again, but the thoughts were soon buried by the pleasant feeling of Hiccups fingers on his neck.

:Why do you always say 'Hiccup' and not 'you?':

:Hiccup means a lot to me:.

:But you never say 'Toothless', you say ''I":.

:Hiccup means more to me than I:. It was a fact to Toothless, nothing more or less.

And the blatant conviction in that sentence hit Hiccup like a brick. His name had always been a brand of shame of what a disappointment he was, but when Toothless said it it had a new meaning.

A thought revealed itself in Hiccup's mind. A speck of gold in a field of mist. Something he had to seek out before anything else.

:We have to track down your Alpha:.

Toothless shook his head. :No. I can't let you put yourself in that danger:. There was something foreboding about the creature that had ordered Toothless. He didn't know what it looked like or what it wanted, but it was _scary._

:We're going:. He picked himself off the ground and grabbed the riding apparatus. Toothless didn't move or resist. As clear as he was on the bonding process, Hiccup had overridden some of the rules. He obediently kept still as he was strapped and tightened. _It would feel good to fly once more, and to be close._

They made for the direction of Helheim's Gate. The sense of dread was only drowned by a relentless curiosity.

 

* * *

 

 

                                                                          

                                                                                                   **_-Years Later-_**  

 

  

Toothless kept looking up from his meal of fresh venison at a mark on the door of their cave.

:She has called for me:.

Hiccup smiled, still lightheaded. "Ugh. Dragons." He rolled his eyes and ran a hand through unkempt hair.

:I have no choice. We must go. You too:.

"As if I trust you to handle this yourself." Alcohol seemed to have a way of making Hiccup's sense of humor just more _cocky_. The sarcasm was still there, but overshadowed just so slightly.

They started walking to where Toothless had last seen the female 'Fury. As soon as they arrived, she was there, swooping down from some unknown perch. She made a whistling sound and made off to her cave at a trot. Upon reaching the hill crest though, she took flight. Her cave was visible from here and she pinpointed the location by flying to it, and then hovering there a second to make sure they saw. She seemed content to wait on the two troublemakers.

It was a long walk up to Tender's cave. Toothless' expression only grew more sour the more they walked, until Hiccup punched his side and smiled.

:We will work something out. We always do:.

The cave was empty, but the back wall was translucent. By whatever means, the solid rock had become semi-transparent. They could see the rough shaped of two dragons past it.

Toothless walked up to the wall and breathed a gentle flame over it. The wall seemed to _melt_ , and he stepped though the gap.

Hiccup gawked for a second, until a 'come on' head wave from Toothless made him follow. The wall didn't seem to exist at all where it once had, and he stepped through easily. It wasn't _hard_ to follow his dragon. It wasn't _hard_ to accept something new. Those were two things that pretty much came naturally to him.

:Sit down you two. You are judged to be violating the natural ways of life and disrupting the balance of the garden of Skolta and it's people:.

Hiccup took a guess that 'Skolta' was the region Tender resided over. She saw her area as a garden and clearly cared for it's wellbeing. Hiccup hadn't seen a garden until reaching the mainland over the sea from Berk. Caring for plants was not very 'Viking'.

:I will start the discourse. Joining me is Elder Dragon Dustin, as an impartial witness:.

Dustin was of a different species Hiccup hadn't yet seen. Bronze all over with heavy plates, he would have been intimidating if not for his age. He was clearly sapped of energy and rested on the same high flat rock Tender occupied.

:I have briefed Dustin on the state of things. As is process, the Impartial Witness can begin by making a statement if he so chooses.

:This dragon has clearly taken the boy and used him for his own selfish means. No dragon has before been grounded and then regained their flight because of a human. He _must_ be the dragon's slave. He is protecting the Fury because he is scared of it's wrath. Look at this human! He is so small Toothless could crush him in an instant:. The bronze dragon may be old, but his first comment was furious and accusing.

:Is this true, Hiccup? Are you being held by the dragon against your will?: Tender's words were much more even-handed.

:Never. I seeked him out many times. I don't know how else I can say this: I love him and I want him more than anything else:. It was a bold sentence, but it seemed necessary. He blushed, but steadied himself to say more of the same if need be.

:Even if this is true, the drake has taken a human as a mate. Such a thing is unheard of. Forbidden and beyond the realms of comprehension:.

:You would ask a Night Fury to break it's bond?: The question came from Toothless.

:Bond.... You claim you have taken the human to your nest and bred him?:

:Yes:.

:Ridiculous!:

The female Night Fury snuffled. Hiccup didn't know what, if anything, the action meant.

:You have hurt him:.

:No! I have not!:

:How? How would a human be bred by a dragon and not hurt?:

:Okay. Hiccup hurt a little. But not enough that he would not be fine the next day or anything else bad and he even liked the pain a little, maybe. But Hiccup had a human creation to give slickness so we could mate easier:.

Hiccup was the deepest shade of crimson as he tried to sink into himself where he sat. Unfortunately, the ground did not swallow him as he wished. If anything, the older dragons were now paying even more attention to him. A sense of outrage at having his intimacy and most personal connections to his dragons lingered at the back of his consciousness, burning to let itself known. In front of that rage, fear and respect for these elders and a severe lack of knowledge on actual human-dragon relationship customs held him in shock and bled shame into his bones.

:Does he enjoy being bred?:.

:He does:.

:Ridiculous!: Another shout from the elder dragon.

:A male can enjoy such an act. Do you recall your whelp-kin-of-kin Tyrus? He gave his life to another male. They are of the same nest, and bond. He enjoys being bred:.

:Tyrus. I _never_ understood him:. This seemed to put the old dragon in a reflective state.

The female swept her head around to Hiccup. :Do you enjoy being bred?:

Hiccup couldn't bring himself to say 'yes'. If this was a normal subject for debate in Dragon Court that was all well and good, but he had never uttered a word about anything remotely sexual in his own upbringing. All he could feel was their large, judging eyes burning into him, searing, raging dragonfire. Toothless mewled a quiet objection, but it seemed his dragon had more respect for his elder's ways than he could overcome and the Night Fury's claw gripping Hiccup's hand was shaking slightly.

:No? Your lies have caught up to you, Drake:. _The look she gave Toothless was **poison**._

:He did not say 'no'. You don't know how humans are. Hiccup says that only to me. Humans don't speak of such things:. Toothless kept shuffling ever so slightly. He couldn't keep still under such tension.

:Well. Is this true then, Hiccup?:

He managed a small nod.

:So utterly unconvincing:. She unfurled her wings and glided down to where Hiccup sat. It was all he could think of that she would separate them and find another mate for Toothless. Someone more fitting and less troublesome. Carefully, she did so, moving Hiccup away from his partner's comfort all the while speaking her plans to remedy the situation. Before she could do anything else, however, a howl of anguish stopped them all.

 

A howl of a dragon at the end of his patience and threatened in a life-crippling way. The sound was Fury. Thunder. Lightning. A storm of anguish and power.

 

* * *

 

 

 

Toothless ran at a blistering pace at Tender. She reacted quickly, but not quick enough. He crashed into her, forehead to flank, knocking the older Night Fury over on her side. He didn't stop, and lashing his claws over her midriff, a savage onslaught of fury and rage. Toothless kept up the attack for what felt like hours until the dragon below him was shed of all her scales and bleeding profusely.

Then, his eyes cleared. All he had been scratching at was a large rock, and the blood spilt over it was his own. He looked up and saw the older Night Fury next to her companion at the top of the cave, unharmed.

 :When the world is such a vast expanse and our minds are so far from being the same, there is no room for 'impossible'. Even above the highest clouds there are specks of light so very far away that we can never hope to understand. So who can say that this is not 'right' or 'comprehensible'? I have dreamwalked so many eons over so many ideas that my paws have dulled and melded into the dreamplane. I know of so much, but I still understand so little. If we condemn an idea, we will never understand it:.

She shuffled herself a little and continued.

:I see the strength of your Bond. I wish the both of you endless flight and cozened dreamwalks:. She smiled at the older dragon. :I have lost my mate, but I hope to someday find a dragon that would destroy their own paws in an effort to try and keep me:.

Hiccup was at Toothless' side. The dragon had chipped off one claw completely and he looked at it, downcast. Deep thick crimson slowly flowed from the gash.

:And yet the girl still has not spoken her testimony:. She tapped a paw on the rock pillar behind her.

Astrid stepped out. Her expression was unreadable, but she was composed and looked to give testimony.

:The two accused are still not free of all guilt until all testimonies are made. Astrid, please speak:.

Astrid didn't catch this part, clearly. She still looked to Tender for direction. The dragon snorted and stamped a foot at the edge of the stone. He watched with a sense of dread as the girl stepped forward and opened her mouth to speak.


	6. Altercation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully in the coming months I will get enough free time to complete both this and the other work I have been thinking of, but I can't make any promises. I could very well decide I'm not happy with this chapter later and change it completely, such as I am.

:I did not, even once, hurt one of your kind, but when I saw that whelp of your Kin... What he could do to us I-:

:Toothless: Hiccup responds lightly. His words as gentle as his touch against the dragon's forehead. The dragon thinks he feels the boy relax a little. :Toothless, there's nothing to apologize for. I understand:.

They soared above Berk, the most feared dragon known to man and the chief's son. A sight that would baffle anyone on lookout with a keen eye, but the village was still too busy with repairs to worry about a stealth attack by dragons that are always loud and obvious. The two failed to notice a viking ship disembarking below them, headed the exact some direction towards Helheim's gate. There, just as the ship left it's moor for the long and dangerous voyage, a young, brutish teenager stowed himself below decks and waited for his moment.

It wasn't long after leaving sight of Berk that Toothless suddenly, and without warning, rolled himself over. Pitching his wings to start a corkscrew dive, he barrels after the screaming, helpless human he had only just thrown off his back with the maneuver.

The dragon narrows his eyes and straightens his wings as much as possible to speed his descent. In this split second moment, the tailfin is closed up as momentum throws it back, so Toothless closes the other up to match.

Then, with striking precision and knife-edge accuracy, he shakes his tail to force the artificial fin open, then opening the other and barreling himself over once again to catch his rider. He pushes his wings down hard to stop the advance of the oncoming ocean floor, and waits for Hiccup to stop screaming and start yelling.

He feels, faintly, Hiccup slamming his fists down on the leathery scaled hide of his back. As he regains the lost altitude, Hiccup starts questioning him, quite violently, as to how he could do such a rash and foolish thing.

Toothless doesn't reply. Instead, he repeats the entire maneuver once again. This time when he lands, Hiccup is more stunned than angry, but the look of scorn is still there on his face.

:Does little Hiccup understand?: As soon as he finishes the sentence he barrels over once more and lets Hiccup fall.

The stunned teenager lands once more on the leather saddle with a thump. But it's Toothless' body he reaches for, and as Toothless turns his head they press together.

:I will always be here to catch Hiccup, if he will trust me to catch:. He humms into the softer skin.

Hiccup feigns indifference, and projects an indifferent air of nonchalance. "Just focus on landing us, okay?" 

Toothless can hear the boy's voice crack ever so slightly, and knows he felt the message even if he won't admit it. So he complies with the movement of Hiccup's foot pedal and lets himself lower towards a small island to make camp for the night. Hiccup can come to understand this himself, the dragon muses. He's smart enough for that.

Hiccup had only just disembarked and started to scout the area when Toothless noticed him spin around and strut up to his flank with a puzzled and somewhat dismayed expression.

"How did you do that back there? The barrel roll?"

Toothless huffed. Hiccup wasn't _always_ as clever as he thought he was. :Don't need both tailfins to spin one way:.

Hiccup places his soft palm against his jaw, and it seems for a moment he wants to try being together again. If anything, the boy didn't mind missing a simple fact of anatomy and, perhaps, is even coming to understand what he said earlier? Perhaps, but before Toothless could find out, he hears a branch snap, and smells human, and the matter of _Hiccup_ and _The Other Thing_ have to be put aside for more pressing matters.

He already had his plasma blast ready before he saw the familiar face and heard Hiccup cry "Snotlout!" But just because Hiccup didn't want his kin-mate harmed didn't mean he wasn't a threat.

"Toothless, please." Hiccup signals him to hold fire with an outstretched hand and open palm, splayed fingers. Now that Toothless knew just how good those soft, delicate digits could feel the gesture seemed a tad ridiculous, like cloud-diving without any clouds. He couldn't help but comply, though.

"Ho-Holy Carps that thing is awesome! Okay, hear me out for a secon-"

Toothless let his blast free, and it hit a few paces left of Snotlout.

"Toothless!" Hiccup gives him that _don't be like that_ look with the angry eyes and slightly agape mouth.

Toothless rolls his eyes in an imitation of Hiccup.

"Toothless, Snotlout is - just _curious_... Right?"

"That's a Night Fury! Right? That blast sound is the same as the night attacks. Wait - That means you actually weren't lying? When you said you shot down that dragon?

Hiccup looks entirely divided. "Well, yeah. But, how - How did you get here?"

Snotlout's enthusiasm was clearly undaunted by Toothless' warning shot. He paces closer with wide eyes and clear amazed curiosity. He almost looks a bit like Hiccup during their first encounters. Toothless thinks for a second that perhaps this boy is not all that bad - after all he seems to recognize a beautiful dragon when he sees one.

"Stowed away on one of the longboats. Easy, really."

The young brutish viking looks over Toothless' body with appraising eyes.

"Can I have a pet like yours? Where can I get one?"

He growls and arms his teeth. For all Snotlout's earlier confidence, he now stumbles back a few steps.

:Is he saying that I'm your _thing?_ Your _possession?:_

Hiccup is trying to work himself between the two now, but he doesn't make a very good barrier. :Noone is saying that. Bud, please don't hurt him, we need him to live:.

Toothless gives a growl and turns around. If his tail smacked the boy as he did so it wasn't his concern. As he lays down on the grass he listens to the two trying to come to an agreement over something, but a loud roar pierces the relatively calm moment and all eyes are drawn to a Monstrous Nightmare, around Toothless' age, spiked and menacing. The disgruntled dragon had spotted the group and was flying as quickly as it could from it's perch atop the nearby ridge. Toothless knew the species to be incredibly moody, defensive and stubborn, and this particular character lived up to form from the outset with outraged statements of :My Island!: and :No Trespassers!: interspersed between shrieks of outrage and shaking of it's head, even as it landed and eyed up Toothless.

Snotlout was already brandishing his sword and taunting the offended dragon into a fight. Toothless noted the Nightmares' attention divided between the boy and himself, however, and even as Hiccup tried to intervene and resolve the conflict he tried to gesture that the human-kin was not to be killed or even seriously injured.

He notes the glaze in the dragon's eye fade for a second, but it's quickly replaced by a reddened aura of rage that triggers something in Toothless' memory, from a time when he could not think past a shrouding fog of control. It seemed the Nightmare's guardianship of the island was not something of it's own ambition, but instead _given_ to it by some other dragon. A large, controlling dragon that ordered attacks through sheer unrelenting hate.

And it was at that moment the sea of horrific and unbearable memories of **_HER_** and _**THAT PLACE**_ came over him like a storm and the Night Fury barged past Hiccup to slam his bulk against the Nightmare like it was the Red Death herself.

The next few moments were a flurry of biting over washed by angered growls and flame. He swiped at the other dragon, because the other dragon represented _all that was bad in the world_ , and he shouted his anger, because that time and that Alpha were _Not Right_. He tried for the Nightmares' throat time and time again even as he heard a small voice crying out for Toothless to Please Stop.

But when he recognized the voice, through the lashing of tails and raking of teeth, he paused. The Monstrous Nightmare bowled him over but in the moment of clarity he managed to back off and think. Because if She was all that was bad in the world...

He looked at the his partner and saw him bruised and bleeding, fighting back tears. He backed away from his still enraged enemy, but even the Nightmare too seemed to notice something.

It was Snotlout, charging the Nightmare like he _wanted_ to be roasted by a dragon twice his size.

 

* * *

 

:Hey, it's alright.:

There were many times when Hiccup would have loved more than anything to see Snotlout crushed by a dragon. But he saw the usually egotistical meathead lying there defeated and didn't have it in him to allow it. Risking the safety of himself and Toothless was a heavy price to pay, but the absolute fear in Snotlout's eyes told him the teenager might not be stupid enough to speak about what he saw.

The spiked and once terrifying dragon now looked over Snotlout with a kind of unsure disdain. Weary and tired from it's bout with Toothless, it was now hesitant to strike the final blow, and Hiccup saw something shift in it.

:Human stupid:. The beast merely huffed, accentuating the statement with a ruffle of it's spiked wings.

:Yes, but brave. He wants to be friends:. Hiccup blushed immediately after making the comment. For one, he was unsure of it's truth. Secondly, he had never 'spoken' to anyone besides Toothless and was unsure if the dragon would even understand.

The dragon choked out a clumsy fit of laughter, which confused the young viking even more. He stood the motionless. A familiar dark snout brushed his shoulder and he pushed it away with a mix of anger and disappointment.

He knew well enough by now that Toothless was wanting to lick him all over and clear his small frame of every wound he had endured. It was merely the dragon's nature, but these cuts and bruises were caused by _Him_ , and even as Hiccup had tried desperately and only just managed to stop the two dragons from killing each other he had felt a cold piercing fear that perhaps this was all in vain, and dragons were killers by their very design.

Toothless had knocked him to the ground.

Toothless had cut him open with his deadly claws.

Because he wanted to kill.

Which made it all the more excruciating that he could not suppress a deep and insatiable love for the one now rejected by him. The violent, savage beast.

And as he realized all this he wanted to still _try_.

_He hadn't come all this way to be stepped on and give up._

So with his teeth clenched and his brow furrowed he yanked Snotlout off the ground and pulled him over to the dragon that almost ended his life. The Monstrous Nightmare actually _recoiled_ and backed off as they approached, and it took him a second to compose himself and try to disarm his angered affront.

"Hey, there," he nervously began.

The dragon gave a small mewling roar of protest and shoved it's head to the side, as if to turn itself away.

"Now, now, we're all a bit on edge".

_Truest statement of the week._

He raised the rougher, larger hand towards the scaled, shuddering beast. The dragon seemed stuck between two worlds, utterly confused, but too unsure to stop what was happening. It's eyes twitched and razor sharp talons edged into the hard, cold ground.

But the very moment Snotlout's hand touched, all apprehension disappeared and the magnificent thing nuzzled into his soft flesh like it had been waiting for this it's whole life.

"Ho-Holy mother of Odin..." The big dragon gave a pleased hum and Hiccup could swear something broke. Some barrier, some horrible thing or force that had caused the dragon's aggression and made it into a mindless killer. He watched the big beast and his new friend become acquainted with a vaguely protective spirit. It wasn't any fear that Snotlout could be hurt; he now trusted the Monstrous Nightmare completely. More worrying was the possibility of Snotlout's grating and obnoxious personality driving the beast off in the same way many Berkians had come to half-despise the big brute.

But they seemed to bond well, and although the fog was now setting in over the Island and a chill seemed to take the air around him, Hiccup took the encounter as proof that dragons were not meant to be enemies at all and there must be a way to foster some kind of understanding.

He was half lost in thought about the whole situation when the Monstrous Nightmare landed heavily and nosed the side of his face with it's fire-red pointed snout. Hiccup returned the gesture easily with a quick scratch under it's scaled chin.

"Hey, no worries."

There _was_ one concern, though. He looked around for Toothless and saw the dragon missing. In this kind of fog, he would be harder to find, and the weather only seemed to worsen with each step he took. A kind of weighty fear took hold of his heart, and although it seemed hopeless to try and find a stealthy, cunning dragon that almost blends into any kind of darkness or shroud of mist, he couldn't help but push through the fog and oncoming twilight in the vague direction he _thought_ Toothless could have gone.

The island was thickly wooded and footing was unsure. Soon enough the boisterous noises from the two brutes behind him (Sounding alot like play-fighting) dissolved into the fog and he was left alone with only his fleeting anger and increasingly desperate need for Toothless' companionship. A part of Hiccup wanted to scold himself for becoming so reliant on a creature who had only just trampled him and could have seriously maimed him in a sudden and violent bloodrage. Another couldn't help but think of how _good_ Toothless had been to him the past months.

The dragon loved nothing more than to fly, play and hunt, but when Hiccup showed him the runic viking language, Toothless watched with a keen eye as he explained their language and how it worked. He was graceful, and considerate; he cared for Hiccup's comfort and wellbeing seemingly above all else. He knew how warm he was; It was the easiest and most natural gift to give. And when Toothless had been so impatient and rushed so many actions on their adventures, it was only when he _felt something_ for Hiccup that he took his time and carefully made the boy understand.

And that was a different kind of warmth; that when they were together everything could be right, and good. That was how it was meant to be.

 ...

He heard something behind him, but fear locked his legs and arms in place just as his mind screamed _RUN!_

Heavy, padded footsteps, a little softer than a dragon, but carrying a body mass almost as large. He could feel the blind killing instinct and heavy, sodden breath of the thing behind him.

He was done for. There were no larger vikings to save him, nowhere to run to, and no beautiful sleek Night Fury to jump in front of the beast and protect him.

Hiccup managed to turn and look at the great Grizzly threatening his very life. He barely had time to chastise himself for being so stupidly reckless as the towering bear reared up and roared at him. Time had seemed to slow, but even as the claws came down on him the bear somehow collapsed sideways and hit the ground with a loud thud. And all of a sudden the air was quiet as if nothing had happened at all.

Until Toothless' voice cut the silence.

:Does little Hiccup ever think to preserve his own life at all?: The dragon was staring at him with the look of dissapointment-mixed-with-anger he knew Hiccup hates so much.

:Does stupid human ever think to take off the flying kit so Toothless can do his job of saving scrawny little-: He nudges the abashed viking with his snout, nearly sending Hiccup into the unconscious bear. :-And I have to save half-of-me with tailfin and-: He shakes violently to indicate the saddle-and-straps :-No, of course not!:

:Little whelp! Arrogant hatchling!: Toothless noses Hiccup in a kind of side-swiping maneuver again and again. Then, he starts with the tongue. :Stupid undergrown human!:. Hiccup chuckles, but he doesn't know if it's because of the tickling of a large, wet tongue assaulting him or that mocking comment.

He pushed aside the many things he wanted to say to Toothless. The dragon now had him up against a tree, and he allowed the treatment of soft, continued licking. Better to get it done now than shrug the dragon off. They _did_ need each other, and he needed Toothless to forgive him and feel superior for being the hero.

With his arms around Toothless, he let the dragon's body heat seep into his skin and waited until it was satisfied. When Toothless' licks finally stopped and the dragon regained a composure that seemed somewhat stable, he looked into the larger pair of green eyes and tried to speak.

But the series of events that brought them here was all too strange and unhinged to make any sense of _us_ , so he instead thought of what he wanted to know about _them_.

"What came over you back there? And what came over the Monstrous Nightmare?"

Toothless whined a little and fluttered his wings in response.

"Toothless?"

:I vowed to myself never to hurt Hiccup:. He nosed his shoulder ever-so-gently :One good thing happened to me. Vowed never to do anything bad. Anything selfish:.

"Yeah. I-"

:Not for me to say. I know. Toothless always selfish. Always Prideful.: The words were quick, and Toothless looked down instead of at his partner.

:The Alpha:. His eyes flashed a moment. Something. Anger, terror, some emotion of loathing or fear. :I escaped her grasp and didn't even know:.

"Oh!" It hit Hiccup like any revelation would; excitement and thrill at discovery, even if the news was dire. "A larger dragon had control over the others. That's why that Monstrous Nightmare was so angry."

:She sets us to kill all others and retrieve food for her. _Hiccup_ saved me from her when he knocked me down:. He looks at Hiccup lovingly and gives a small lick of thanks across the side of his cheek.

"You didn't want to tell me?" The question was hesitant, his voice low.

:Hiccup _also_ took my memory, remember?:

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

:No _sorry_ , only thanks:.

"Will you take me there? To see?"

:The nest? Brave Hiccup almost died today. Need time to heal. Fish for strength:.

:After all that, then:.

Toothless groaned an acknowledgement. :After:.

 

 


	7. Fish

Toothless gives him a sidelong glance.

:I was hunting that bear:.

  
"Oh yeah, me too. I was really close to the killing blow when you stole it from me."

Toothless responds with a head-nudge, throwing the boy onto his back. Hiccup yelps "Toothless!" and quickly recovers to lunge at the dragon. The Night Fury is too fast, however, and as soon as Hiccup moves he throws his weight to the side and rolls over out of harm's way. He uses his momentum from the lunge to pivot his head forward and execute a forward roll, then jumping up and hooking his arm around a tree trunk to slingshot himself at Toothless. He ends up bumping against the dragon's snout.

 "You don't want to mess with me, lizard" Hiccup warns, "Push me one more time and feel the full force of my power."

Hiccup looks over the pile of fish they caught, trying to ignore Toothless' amused snort and chastising reply.

A great haul, more than enough to go around. The Night Fury is still making remarks behind him about how many times he's needed to be saved from imminent demise, but he wastes no time in preparing the meal, feeling the gnawing hunger from today's excursion. He bends over to prepare the meal, skewering the fish carefully onto sticks so they could roast over the fire.

For those few moments, he feels Toothless' big green eyes hungrily eying him up. It was infuriating on as many levels as it was exciting. The dragon had only today hurt him, physically and emotionally, making him question his entire philosophy. It was... Making him feel lustful. He was becoming more and more accustomed to the strange notion of being _wanted._ Being _desirable..._ Even with circumstances as they were.

Well, two could play at that game. He tried to push the thought of how silly this was aside, and set a smirk on his face. He saunters over to Toothless and places his lips against the dragon's forehead. Pushing down gently against the dragon's body at the same time seems enough to keep him in place.

He resists the urge to look lower on Toothless' body, and tries to look away so Toothless' doesn't see how hard he was blushing. Hiccup had only once seen such details of dragon anatomy, and the idea had been burning in his mind ever since. He had only dreamed of somehow coercing Toothless into a situation where he could ask, let alone look. But now the dragon was so brazen and ready, it was incredibly intimidating.

Hiccup was about to say, quite forcefully, how ridiculous the dragon was being. But... Then he would point out the hypocrisy.

Of course, Toothless showed his motives, affections and pride through his movements and actions more than anything. The dragon had increasingly been shifting his companion-like supportive but bashful nature to a more touchy-feely hands on approach. Hiccup was more than aware that the dragon had been having a good try at replicating his own subtle advances; the sweet thing was way too smart for his own good. However, it seemed his sheer nature prohibited him from being entirely nuanced, and it was only the deep-seeded doubts and ingrained distrust of humans (despite all he had Hiccup had been through so far) that stopped Toothless from being completely obvious with his intentions.

Or so he would guess. The rational part of his mind still found the idea of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III _attractive_ in any form to be absolutely ludicrous, and this sensibility rebelled against the idea of courtship like Toothless would eel for dinner. But it had not stopped him from running, sneaking through the middle of the night, and many days, to seek the beast he _adored_. Spending a day without Toothless felt horrible, he knew, like being deprived of his own lifeforce. And the dragon had mirrored this sentiment enthusiastically when Hiccup had been nervous and shy, always keeping his developing emotion towards the Night Fury in check when Toothless had no such restraint.

...

Hiccup nervously, and with one eye on the dragon turns back towards the side of the island they landed on. If there was one thing flying taught him, it was a sense of direction. Even through the mist that seemed to get thicker every passing minute he stumbled through the trees and found Snotlout having an argument with his new partner.

"Listen here, beast!" The teen shouts, "As my mount I expect a level of respect from you. That means no flaming up when I order something from you. You're _my_ dragon, I give the orders, capiche?"

Hiccup smiles as he watches the big read spiked dragon complete it's circle of fire around his prey. Of course Snotlout would be too absorbed by his own speech to notice fire starting to burn all around him.

"HOOKFANG!"

Hiccup starts to nibble on his fish, enjoying the warmth of the fire. After awhile, Toothless comes up, having eaten his fill (Hiccup wasn't surprised at all that the dragon could wolf through a bear that quickly), and starts to make a very distinctive sound in his throat, along with convulsive-like spasms. Hiccup's eyes widen.

"Uh, hey bud?"

:Mhmm: Toothless halts mid-way

"I really appreciate the thought of you feeding me and all, but here's the thing..."

Toothless' legs begin to shake, belying how uncomfortable it is to stay like that.

"Humans don't _do_ that. Uhh, I'd appreciate it if we could not."

Toothless finishes retching up the half-eaten fish anyway, even though it clearly causes him some pain.

:Always looked like Hiccup enjoyed it:.

"Yeah, it's kind of gross."

_Yeah, that's a nicer way of saying **absolutely disgusting**._

Toothless gives a "humph" and falls onto Hiccup in a sudden move, trapping him.

"Toothless!" Hiccup is exasperated. He tries to relax as Toothless begins to roll his large tongue over his back but the hardness in his pants and the huffing nostrils of a victorious Night Fury on top of him are just too distracting. Soon, Toothless' tongue finds a sensitive spot and exploits it mercilessly as Hiccup breaks into a fit of giggles and as much thrashing as he can manage given the situation.

"You're coming back for the dragon champion naming ceremony. Right?" Snotlout sound tired and looks well-charred.

"That's today?!"

"Uh, yeah. Hiccup, this is only the most important event before Snoggletogg."

"Why are the hunters going out?"

"Scouting, I heard. Back before noon. Were you trying to follow them into Helheims gate? Are you crazy?"

Hiccup ponders this for a second.

"Yeah." He strains to escape the large dragon head pinning him down. Toothless moves to adjust himself, but he lifts his head to do so, leaving a small gap that the small viking takes advantage of to free himself and get clear.

:No running off!: Toothless was quickly up and chasing him down, but when Hiccup raises his hands he slows a bit and tries to appear calm.

Toothless growls :Thought maybe I have to show little Hiccup how small he is:.

Hiccup couldn't help smile at the Night Fury's protective nature. :No, bud, I've learnt my lesson:. He leans forward to kiss Toothless' jaw, if only to affirm the message. He scratches the dragon's jaw a little too, just to evoke a purr.

:Let's go:. He jumps onto the saddle and the two are gone before Snotlout can question any of it.

Hookfang gobbles down the regurgitated fish without a second thought as the two fly off.

 


	8. Exultant

Hiccup soon found himself digging through Toothless' saddle bags for his notebook. There were a large amount of interesting but ultimately useless things stored here, and now that they were in a serious situation he wanted to kick himself for not thinking to plan for it correctly. He could pass it of as Toothless' fault, maybe. The dragon had been too playful, provocative even. Toothless was extremely clever and ever since Hiccup had learnt how to talk to him it was like all of Toothless' nonverbal communication and cues were now backed up by a smarmy, cocky attitude. He was so sure of himself... He was so sure of _them, together_...

He flipped through his book, past pages and pages of Toothless drawings and flying apparatus diagrams. There were many other dragon sketches too. Every dragon that resided in the fighting (or 'training' pit, as they called it) was an interesting new _thing_ that he could sit down and try to replicate in the book. Alongside each species were notes on their behavioral characteristics and personalities; all dragons had some degree of intelligence once you stripped away the inherent distrust and hostility. It seemed very likely Night Furies were among the smartest, if not the smartest, and it seemed Monstrous Nightmares were a few steps below that.

Although Toothless' telepathic communication was a little limited and slightly off putting with his strange way of speaking.

Charming, though.

And worthy of noting in the journal.

At the back of his mind he knew he should be worrying about the ceremony today, but as he runs the idea over in his mind it becomes more and more apparent how worthless the event would be. All Hiccup could think about right now was dragons; good dragons, bad dragons, a dragon he loved, a dragon he was starting to hate, and maybe a tentative plan to end the hostility of all dragons (if his theory was correct).

He looks down at Toothless. His Night Fury was being eerily silent and seemed quite focused on flying. Did he have the way to the dragon nest memorized, or was this pure instinct? Either way, Toothless showed no reaction to soft hands massaging his neck or even Hiccup's daring nibbling on one of his earflaps.

This was puzzling. With the blinding mist all around and an unresponsive dragon, the atmosphere suddenly seemed very tense, and he wondered for the hundredth time today just what he had gotten himself into. Toothless still mewled and hummed pleasurably when his neck was scratched, but otherwise was completely unresponsive.

"Toothless, Bud?" Hiccup tried.

No response.

"Toothless, for what it's worth.... I do forgive you. I know that you really do care about me a whole lot, and the truth is, I care about you too. I would never leave you, and that's not just because you need me to fly, it's because-"

He paused for a second. He knew the feeling in his heart, in his soul, but would Toothless think it sounded stupid? Still, the dragon seemed to not be listening. Maybe he wasn't hearing any of this.

"Because I love you. Okay? And as soon as you break out of this weird mood-changing thing you've been doing and we try to find out something about the Dragon Alpha I'm going to show you how much I really do. I mean it, things have been really rough so far but I think we can really make this work, and I feel like it was meant to be, somehow."

Hiccup waited for a moment to let the words sink in. There was no escape from their implication now, even if Toothless hadn't heard any of it the words were all stuck in his own head like a promise overshadowing any other. The rush of air over him sent a chill through his bones and the mist still emanated an aura of dread, but he hugged close to his dragon and gathered strength from Toothless' warmth.

It felt like they had been flying through the mist for ages. The only sign they were still on the mortal plane was the occasional seastack of rocks and precarious trees that was gone as soon as it appeared. Gods, was it cold. He hang onto Toothless like the dragon was his hold on the world, and it felt nice. Toothless was so strong, and so warm, and he could look so adorable when he got excited or happy about something...

Hiccup snapped his eyes open.

When had he fallen asleep? He didn't remember feeling tired. All he remembered was climbing onto Toothless' saddle and them flying off into the mists. Suddenly, he heard a soft, powerful voice in his ear.

:Hey, how Hiccup feeling? Tired? Any pain?:

"Toothless don't be ridiculou-" He started to object, but then it hit him; He wasn't on Toothless' back, and the Night Fury was standing right in front of him, neck arched down to look at him close and a worried expression on the dragon's face.

And there was no mist, but the world was still just as grey. Why did he feel so _fuzzy?_ Was fuzzy the right word? He wasn't exactly numb, or tingly, but the sudden realization he was in some new realm had put him on edge.

"Where exactly are we?"

:If I'm right, this is dreamwalking. At least, it feels alot like what was described to me when I was a young Whelp.:

Hiccup was dumbstruck. He wasn't often without a witty rebuttal but this had him speechless.

:The elders described it to us. Plain white all around, pleasant numbness, feel the outside world just barely:.

"We're asleep?"

:Basically. I'm still flying. I can feel the thermal under wings:.

Hiccup very tentatively moved his fingers. Rubbed them together. Yes, there was still physical sensation, but he couldn't feel anything outside the dream.

"This is really you?" He reached his hand to Toothless' snout, and it was greeted by an obliging soft nuzzle.

:Do I feel real?: Toothless' voice sounded playful and challenging.

"I bet you still lose to a wrestle just as easy," Hiccup grinned and jumped on top of the dragon, trying his best to pin him down.

:You have never beat me: Toothless writhed around with a roar.

Hiccup, with a motion quick as lightning, grapples Toothless' ear flap for support and works his hand under the big beast's neck. He knows exactly where to scratch, where Toothless' nerves are most sensitive and a focused and skillful hand can bring his muscles to suddenly relax in his legs and the dragon to consequently fall. Easy as fishcake.

Toothless made a low, annoyed sound in his throat. He flapped his earflap to slap Hiccup in the face. The dragon didn't have to say this was cheating, because his wrestling partner knew it _full well._

Declaring his victory, Hiccup noticed something on the ground. His journal! Had he been holding it when he woke up here? It was still open to the latest page, with the Monstrous Nightmare and the notes about dragon communication. He hastily added some observations about dreamwalking, but then stopped.

He was lying just beside Toothless' resting head, and he locked eyes with the dragon.

"If I write something in my journal, will it be there when I wake up?"

All he got in response was a shrug, but the dragon looked like he had something more important on his mind.

"What is it, Bud?"

:Hiccup: _A lick across the face_ :Elders said two can only dreamwalk when they have achieved the closest bond. Companionship, Partnership, _Love._ :

Hiccup was still sketching in his book. He blushed, working on a drawing he had spent days on already. He had been imagining Toothless as a human, and his sketch showed a dark haired teen, muscled and tall, with scaled skin and earflaps poking through his hair. He loved the way Human-Toothless' black scales contrasted with his fair skin. On the opposite page was a Dragon-Hiccup, A Night Fury with sleek, lean features designed for speed and flexibility. He had highlighted his sparkling intelligent green eyes in the picture as it was one of his favorite features on Toothless, too.

"I-I might have said I love you," he stammered. Gods, he wished for once he could be confident. How good it would be to show Toothless just how much he meant it.

The crooning sound Toothless made was the most wonderful thing he had ever heard, like the dragon was rejoicing the return of all things good in his life. And it made his being exultant, to share this happiness and embrace, so close together and warm and _loving_.

 

They hugged and kissed as close and deep as they could until a screeching, dreadful roar broke the bliss like a jagged faultline through their embrace.

 


	9. Cage

"Hiccup!"

Snotlout's angered, weathered face greeted him as the young Viking tried to snap out of the stupor. He shook his head in shock and tried to make sense of the situation, still more than a little clouded from the almost supernatural experience he had awoken from.

"Hello? Earth to Hiccup?" Snotlout waved his free arm in front of his face, other holding the horn of his mount as they both flew in the cloud bank.

"Yeah..." Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to overcome the dizzy sickness washing over him. He heard Toothless croon, sensing his discomfort, then snarl at the other two.

"Look, I know you have this whole 'Bold and Mysterious' thing going on right now, but you kind of _have_ to be there for the dragon killing ceremony. It's not optional, and if Stoick finds out I was with you and didn't bring you back with me I'm dead meat."

Hiccup glares back at him. A pleasant thought of firing a plasma blast and watching Snotlout fall into the ocean crossed his mind.

"He _will_ find out. He knows everything, or he finds out everything," Snotlout stated as a fact.

The words struck him like a knife through the chest. It was true, his father was ruthless to the core and he would stop at nothing if he thought something was amiss in regards to his island, his village or his son. Ever since he and the raiding party had returned from their raid to find Hiccup's newfound skills with the dragons Stoick had been taking a renewed interest in Hiccup, but the likely possibility of that turning to ire and rage when he found out that he sympathized with the enemy shook him to the core.

"I know you haven't been around much, but I heard how excited your dad is about the ceremony and there is no way I'm going down for helping a runaway."

Maybe Snotlout was just smart enough to realize the leverage he held over him with the knowledge he possessed, maybe not. Either way the situation was so suddenly and horribly, impossibly dire. 

He should have left as soon as he could. Not that it mattered now.

Snotlout was still staring at him, expecting an answer.

"Snotlout, can't you see what this means, that you befriended this dragon and it's letting you ride on it's back? We were wrong. We were so very wrong and dragons are smart, and kind and they are capable of so much more than the violent rage they have been forced into because we couldn't look past what we saw."

Snotlout looked the opposite of empathetic. "You _care_ about the the things that have been trying to kill us our entire lives?"

"It wasn't their idea!" He retaliated, hands in the air, "All this time they were controlled by the Alpha."

"How do you know?" Snotlout scoffed.

"He told me." Hiccup rubbed, affectionate, against the base of Toothless' earflaps.

"You really are nuts. You know what?" The burly teen unsheathes his sword. "Either you come back to Berk and admit to the Cheif how insane you are, or I end this dragon right now." He positions the swordtip right against the weakpoint of Hookfang's neck, the cold metal poised to drive through and pierce the jugular.

"Snotlout, couldn't you see what happened when you made contact with Hookfang? All the dragons are like that, they just need something to snap them out of the Alpha's control and if we can work together to find a way...." He sighed.

It was clear his fellow viking was not willing to see reason and very likely never would. As clear cut as things seemed to Hiccup the other teens had been raised in an environment where they were conditioned to hate dragons and aspire to their slaughter. He considered for a moment asking Toothless to fire a shot at Snotlout. the right hit would send him into the freezing depths below. He could take Toothless and Hookfang and find out just what they were up against with no more interruptions.

But a larger part of him reviled the idea and rallied against anything that would cause harm. He couldn't kill another living being, even if they were playing a part in his horrible demise.

"Fine." He relinquished.

"Maybe after you kill a dragon you will see how absolutely insane you are being right now. If not, I'm more than happy to take your place for the cheifdom."

 

* * *

 

 

 As they neared Berk, a shout went up from below. Very quickly, a _thung_ accompanied it and a huge boulder very narrowly missed Hiccup's head. 

"HEY!" He shouted down at the defensive walls, nudging Toothless to swerve and avoid a second projectile. The viking below did a double-take, obviously thinking he must be hearing things. Hiccup smiled at the thought of this confused meathead, wondering if a dragon just shouted at him in anger.

"We're friendlies!" Snotlout added. "Hold your fire!"

They landed beside Sven, the man looking as unpleasant as usual. Sven held an axe to each dragon's throat in turn before turning on the viking teens with an icy glare. Muttered comments of disbelief and a few of outrage were heard from along the wall, but the other vikings seemed too shocked to act just yet. Hiccup tried to calm his dragon, urging him to quiet the growing roar overcoming him. Hookfang shrieked and lunged at Sven, but Hiccup was able to jump down and get between the two before anything could happen.

"Look," Hiccup started, "I know this may come as a bit of a shock."

"Yeah," Snotlout snorted, "A bit. Like how a fever dream or a rampaging mad yak comes as a bit of a surprise."

Sven grimaced. He pointed down at the docks, where Berk's fleet was returning and disembarking.

There, plain as day, was the Chief. Stoick was not an easy guy to miss, and he loomed above everyone around him with an authoritarian presence. He spotted them above and Hiccup saw him frown before starting up the walkways. With a lumbering, purposeful stride he approached the group and released a heavy sigh.

"Hiccup," he groaned. Gruff, tired.

"Hi, Dad." Hiccup tried a smile. It might have not been convincing, but the action gave a small boost to his own resolve. Maybe a smart mouth and a cynical positivity would see him through this.

"Hiccup, there are two dragons behind you, and one of them has some kind of saddle on it." The Chief held an arm outstretched to hold back an inquisitive Gobber.

"Dad, please could you just listen to me for a minute or two?"

"We don't have that kind of time, Hiccup. You can explain how all this," he gestured to the dragons, "happened later, but right now the ceremony is about to start and I have to prepare."

With a grunt, the Cheif hooks his arm around the Monstrous Nightmare and starts dragging the uncompliant dragon towards the killing pit. Hookfang writhes, roars and lights its whole body aflame to no avail. Toothless is quick to look for an escape route and he barks a direction at Hiccup. The boy turns on the spot but is blocked by the same blond mustached man who greeted him. Sven shakes his head.

Hiccup tries to push past, but it's futile. "Toothless, run!" He shouts and the dragon roars his anger and frustration in response. 

_Of course he won't. Toothless would rather get himself caught and be in a cell with me, than alone and free._

Before Hiccup can think to stop him, two successive plasma blasts shake the ground. Vikings scatter and a call of "Night Fury!" pierces the air.

 _Someone recognized Toothless' firing sound_ , Hiccup realized.  _They're afraid._ He uses the confusion to run through to Toothless and place his hands between Toothless' eyes, stopping him. Toothless' snout is piping hot from the flurry of shots he's fired. The dragon pauses, but looks weary. His eyes dart from side to side and he's clearly having trouble staying still.

:Let's go. Now. Jump on:. It's an order, not a suggestion.

"No, Toothless. I can't run from this."

He turned towards the majority of his fellow villagers and shouted as loud as he could, "Calm down!" It seemed noone was listening, so he climbed onto his dragon and stood as tall as possible. Now, a few looked and gawped at how the deadly, unseen and destructive Night Fury was helping a Viking. More, Toothless seemed proud to be doing so. Hiccup could feel his support as he steadied himself and he looked down for a second to see Toothless lock his beautiful eyes with him. _Go_ _._

"Listen!" Now a decent crowd was looking.

"All the dragons are - Well, they're not evil! They're not mindless, they aren't just out to kill every human they see." He felt for a moment he might get somewhere. People were _listening._

"Traitor!" shouted someone from his side. He felt a searing pain strike his leg, gouging through the skin in an excruciating arc. He clutched at the wound, driving his balance off. With a surge of fear, he felt his body fall and his head hit hard merciless stone. Roars and shouts assaulted his senses from all sides and he was kicked in the head more than a few times before he blacked out completely.

 

* * *

 

 

 

_Gods, his head hurt. A dull, throbbing pain that drove out all other thought. Except, Toothless. The name repeated itself on a kind of stuttered loop. He was so sore, and his vision swam in lazy circles. The surroundings he was in were hard to make out, but at least he was alone, it seemed, and capable of walking._

Hiccup lurched out of the bed with a grimace, sucking in air through his teeth. His unkempt hair immediately fell in front on his eyes making the difficult situation just that little bit more uncomfortable.

He follows the light source out of the hut. Holds a hand in front of his eyes until they can adjust to the blinding light. His mind takes a moment to process this information...

A day had passed. _Anything could have happened to him._ Blinking, he tries to focus his mind and calm the frayed nerves. He looks around the exterior of Gothi's hut but finds nothing. _  
_

There only seemed to be one clear destination; the dragon pit. But it would be guarded, surely. More than one viking had to be either standing watch, or just hanging around. Not that there was any choice. With the thought of a distressed, caged Toothless in his mind there was really nothing else he could do.

Hiccup raced down from the healer's hut and found himself at the gate of the training pit before he knew what he was really doing. Everyone he passed had looked the other way or grimaced at him, as though this were no other day in the village. When he approached the steel barred door, Stoick stepped into his path.

 Hiccup jumped, "Whoah, where did you come from?"

"Boy, get back to the house and stay there. You are grounded with no parole until further notice."

"Yeah, hi to you too." He paused. Unable to directly confront his father and unwilling to let his dragon be imprisoned, Hiccup stands with a desperate racing mind. Then, a sound. Shockingly familiar and beautifully primal. Toothless' roar, distinct and pained.

"What did you do to him?" Hiccup demanded. "I'm here, Bud!" He added with a shout, desperately trying to push past the much larger man. Stoick looked a mix of frustration and dulled anger, but he had dealt with his unruly son enough to know how he acted.

"Dad, I'm not going to let him suffer in there! Dragons aren't meant to be locked up and held for bloodsport, they are - Uff - beings just like - Urgh - us with needs and emotions." Hiccup struggled to make his case and resist his father at the same time.

"If you go in there that dragon is going to harm you the same as any other. After your little stunt yesterday I'm half tempted to throw you in there and see what happens, but I still care about you after all this."

Toothless roared. There were sounds of scratching against rock and metal. Then, with a deafening BANG and THUD one of the cell doors was thrown violently out of it's housing. The Night Fury bared it's teeth and started at a thundering gallop, full pace towards Hiccup. Stoick tried to hold his son back, but he had turned his vision to the great midnight black dragon running at him and had lost his grip. 

"I'm here, Bud. Don't worry." Hiccup threw himself at the lever and yanked it down with his whole body weight. The bars gave a jerk, then suddenly thrust upwards with a shudder. They clanged against their bracing as Toothless lowered his head down to give Hiccup a big, enthusiastic lick across the face as Hiccup threw his small arms around him. Stoick made a lunge for the dragon, stopping an inch short. His displeasure was clear, yet the great man held back. Strangely enough, the dragon was not _devouring_ his son, it was _licking_ him, in an affectionate and almost intimate manner. He cleared his throat.

"Hiccup, be careful with that wound. You lost alot of blood when that sword cut through, and it's a nasty scar under that bandage." The Cheif had genuine concern in his eyes, Hiccup noted as he mounted his dragon.

Hiccup tried to find an appropriate response. He was so ready to hate his father, up until this moment. Just as he starts to speak, Toothless does a quick half-turn, spinning them around towards the pit and nearly throwing his rider off. Hiccup barely hangs on. Toothless shoots a plasma blast, the blue fireball striking a cell door at it's hinges and forcing it loose. He very quickly fires another, and another until all the cells are broken open and the captive dragons break free into the sunlight.

Hiccup frowned. _Would it really be possible to escape the island with all these dragons?_ The defenses at the wall were still there and the catapults were just as adept at taking down an escaping dragon as an attacking one.

"Truth be told, you were lucky not to lose that leg. Gothi did a fantastic job, as always."

Hiccup was about to ask just who had cut him, but the thought was halted when the freed dragons gathered around him, warbled and roared with a hungry look in their eyes. He felt their _impatience_. Their for revenge. The dragons' combined anger at the Alpha and their captor Vikings battered his senses.

:You really want to help us?: He surveyed the crowd. Most of the dragons were small variants, but he spotted the Nadder from the other week that had almost spiked him and a Gronkle that was one of the first dragons they had practiced against. Dragons didn't nod, they tended to say yes with more a dip of the head and a certain inflection in their eyes.

:Revenge. Humans in fire, torn flesh; growled the Nadder, eyes wild. Hiccup quickly shook his head in response.

:No killing. Or I will rouse the whole village and put you back in that cage:.

The dragon growled with bared teeth and narrowed eyes. It's spikes bristled across the length of it's back and deadly claws dug into the ground.

:Fine:. The Nadder tapped it's claws against the stone walking past them, up the ramp and waited at the wall. The others quickly followed suit. Toothless was about to leave, but Hiccup stilled him with a hand on his forehead.

"I won't be back for awhile." He stated lamely.

The Chief nodded, unreadable.

Hiccup frowned, wanting to say _something_. When his mount stalked up to the wall and took flight, jerking his head with a roar to signal the others to follow, Hiccup still couldn't read the expression on his father's face, let alone know that this was the last time he would see him.


	10. Night

 

 

Stoick shoved himself onto Gobber's workshop. He had to nudge himself in past all the support beams and loose blacksmithing tools and more than a few became dislodged in the process, rattling to the ground. The charismatic blacksmith was there waiting for him, but it was clear Gobber was already looking to harass him with alot of questions. He unclasped the great axe from his belt and handed it to his long time friend. Gobber nodded and looked over the axe to see what maintenance he could perform on the huge weapon.

"Thor's sake, Stoick, you could have cleaned the blighter for me," he complained.

Stoick was really not in the talking mood. Everyone knew that the only time he was overly vocal was during celebrations and feasts, when he could drown the worries and neverending responsibilities of Chief under a wash of ale. Right now, he tried to give Gobber a look that would let him be.

"You're going te have te lemme know what went on yeterday. Everyone's been coming at me thinking ye mightah told me somethinerather but all I saw was your son and Spitelout climb off DRAGONS and then a whole lot of madness." He accentuated the last point with a whole lot of arm-flailing.

Stoick huffed. He scratched his beard. He did anything to put off talking about this. His son had said something yesterday that had the whole village talking, and now that little brat Snotlout had spread the wild story of what had gone on aswell. With Hiccup missing _once again_ he was left with a hole in his heart. The feeling shook him to the core. He had already lost his wife, and that was a pain that held a vice grip inside him even after all these long years.He had tried so hard to let go of his apprehensions and give his weak, clumsy son some personal freedoms in spite of how scared he was. How many times had he saved Hiccup from being burnt to a crisp of savagely clawed to death? And now there was a dragon with him, and....

This had wracked his mind. Did he _hallucinate?_ It _was_ a Night Fury, clear as day. Noone would have known from the physical characteristics, as they had not been seen before. But he heard it's shot numerous times. A powerful, haunting sound with it's own beautiful resonating aura. There was a reason that sound struck fear into men's hearts. But Hiccup had taken the dragon's...

 ** _Affections?_** and **_Returned them?_**

It was enough to drive a man mad, and it had happened right before his eyes. He could smell the beast as it led the other dragons out of the pit, and he watched his son as he flew away on the devil's back.

"All I'm sayin' is, Stoick. All o' Snotlout's gabberin can't be lies. He's a daft one, fe sure, but he ain't delusional."

_A traitor. His son was a traitor and everyone knew it._

 

* * *

 

 

They landed back on the foggy island, where the Monstrous Nightmare had accosted them. Hiccup did a scan of their ragged band of dragons. No Hookfang. Perhaps the big red creature had grown attached to Snotlout after all? If so, he felt somewhat sorry for it.

:Eat?:. Like most of Toothless' suggestions, it was more of a demand. The Night Fury dropped a fish out of his gullet and nosed it towards him.

:Eat. Keep Hiccup strong:.

Hiccup chuckled when the dragon paced around to him and nudged _him_ towards the waiting fish _. Was it just his imagination, or had Toothless selected the largest one and kept it for him?_ Toothless _did_ seem mighty proud of himself (although that was a very common thing in of itself) and he could see the dragon showing off his powerful wings and legs as he quite suggestively stretched. It looked alot like a show, and his suspicion was confirmed when another dragon butted in and growled.

:Time for mating later:. The Gronkle gave both Hiccup and Toothless a derisive glare before returning to her own pile of fish. 

Toothless looked abashed, thankfully. As Hiccup began eating his fish he noted his dragon keeping a respectful distance. But he still kept his big eyes on Hiccup anyway, ensuring his human ate every last bite of the fish.

:Arrogance of a human to proposition Night Fury:...

Hiccup startled. Did he hear that right? He turned his head to look over at the disgruntled Gronkle again, but Toothless was already rising from his place on the grass looking insulted and angry. He jerked himself upright and stampeded over in front of his dragon, placed both hands on his forehead to still him.

:Why would a _human_ come here? Try to mate with Night Fury?:

Hiccup felt searing embarrassment flush his face red, chased by indignation. He hadn't known dragons could be so _species-ist_. The Gronkle had said _human_ like a dirty word...

Then, another, softer voice. :But Night Fury can do as it likes. Human, too:. It was a very young dragon, metallic hide somehow shining despite the lack of direct sunlight. The creature was obviously very shy, but Hiccup could see it had an underlying motivation. The large, curved horn atop it's head was intimidating, and large spined spikes ran along it's back between a pair of steel-grey wings also adorned by many, many small spikes. It's claws looked like they could cut through anything.

The Gronkle groaned in response. :Can smell arousal from here. Can you not? Whelps are disgusting:. It snorted and buzzed it's tiny wings.

That did it. Hiccup desperately tried to get in Toothless' way, but he was all too easily thrown to the side. The Night Fury charged, slammed into the Gronkle and sent the smaller dragon flying into a boulder. It hit the rock with a _thunk._ Hiccup winced. The Gronkle had a thick hide, so the blow was unlikely to cause any real damage, but it still looked really painful.

:How Dare You?!: Toothless roared. He stood over the Gronkle and awaited a response. Anything besides an apology would not end well.

:How **_Dare_** You?!: He repeated. The Gronkle moaned and tried to stand. She was very suddenly nudged by Toothless towards his beloved.

:Apologize to sweet Hiccup:. He looked from the Gronkle to the human and back again, his gaze demanding.

:Apologies;, the Gronkle relinquished. With a forlorn drooping head she wobbled back to her spot and settled with a pained sigh.

:Commendable,: the strange metallic dragon commented. :Alot of love:.

Toothless snorted. :Flock will finish their fish:. He ruffled his wings and curled around his human possessively. Hiccup smiled, but it quickly broke into a contented chuckle. There was something to Toothless' posture right now that didn't sit quite right, and it showed just as evident on his face. Not quite embarrassment, but he had been ruffled by the encounter. There was a subtle battle between Toothless' pride and his love that made the dragon visibly uncomfortable. Hiccup brushed his hand, soft, over the warm leathery hide and felt his dragon lean reassuringly into him.

Hiccup didn't really know if there was such a way to 'whisper' in thought-speak. But it seemed he needed to try right now. He focused his attention at Toothless, squarely and direct, and made the thoughts _quiet_.

:Hey. We're okay. Bud, listen. What we have, it's ours, and it can't be broken. This-: He plants a firm, but gentle kiss on the dragon's snout, :Is unconditional. It's nothing you have to worry your big head over:. He snuggled up a bit more against Toothless' warm chest as an extra measure and hummed his contentment, as Toothless would do. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Tooth's puzzlement. Either he had executed that very well, or very poorly, but it seemed untactful to ask the dragon and break the sense of power he felt, so Hiccup let it lie for now. He had freed not just Toothless, but a whole group of dragons from their mental imprisonment and given them a lease of life. Freedom. That was what they had to focus on.

It was something he had always sought for himself and fought for tooth and nail.

Now, all they had to do was work together and find out the Queen's weakness. All dragons had one, same as humans. He scratched idly at Toothless' so very sensitive neck to reinforce the idea. Thoughts and plans ran in his head of showing his father friendly dragons and proving to him how they could live together, the two species as friends. It was a wonderful dream to hold onto.

Knowing that the dream may someday come true, It filled him with determination.

He felt a wave of euphoria overcome him, as Toothless visibly relaxed and started to turn to putty in his hands. For all his pure strength and strutting power, Hiccup knew the dragon was alot of bark without any real bite. The big, strong Night Fury had got so riled up time and time again over _him_. It was a kind of power in itself, and it felt delicious. Toothless really would do anything for him, and his passionate need to protect and fufill his human's wishes was absolutely charming. Yes, he had hurt that Gronkle.... Yet he had still held back alot of unrestrained power as he did so. When Toothless saved him from that bear, it was savage. Hiccup could only thank the gods that this dragon was on his side, because if Toothless had not spared him, back when they first met, he would have had no chance. This was something they both knew, and one of the hallmarks of their relationship to boot.

He carefully slipped out of Toothless' curl. He had been working his nimble fingers against that spot for awhile; the dragon was so incapacitated now, he had no chance of stopping him. Hiccup wondered for a moment just what it felt like to be in that state. It looked wonderful, like being blissed out on mead with just the right amount of fatigue. A kind of pleasantness that seeped into your core. He looked at Toothless and hummed. The dragon always complained when he did this to him, but there was a huge smile there. Maybe the dragon would admit one day that he liked giving up control for a bit to let Hiccup deal with the problems.

He worked his way over to the metallic dragon, who was right now preening himself. The curious beast kept one keen eye on Hiccup as he approached, but otherwise kept at his ministrations. Hiccup had never met a dragon as relentlessly curious as he himself was, but they mostly seemed willing to oblige him once they knew his intention was innocent.

:Human:, he greeted.

:Hiccup, actually. That's Toothless:.

:Nightshear:.

Hiccup smiled, mussing his hair.

:Are you... Dragon and Human, mated?: The dragon questioned. His 'voice' was soft and calm. Hiccup found himself drawn to it, so different to any other voice he had ever heard. Everyone on Berk was gruff, power thrown into their words. The teens were all a bit nasally and awkward. Even Toothless' voice was different, with it's deep underlying bass under the soft current of it's silky surface.

He considered the question. They loved each other. Toothless' love for him was as clear as crystal water in every single action and word. His love had been a bit more hesitant, but Toothless meant the world to him. He had sought the first kiss like a hopeless kid trying to catch a butterfly through the air; all blind determination. It was wonderful. But dragons were such physical creatures. There was only one thing the metallic dragon could be hinting at.

He frowned. :How could we? I don't know how that could work....: _Toothless is so big_ , he wanted to add. _Not that I've been looking at him like that_. He _had_ been looking at him like that. But, they were two completely different species and that idea was ridiculous, clearly. 

The thought still took hold deep within him. A strange feeling coursed through his veins. It wasn't really that long ago he would have been pining over Astrid, stealing shameful glances at a girl he would never have a chance of having and living his teen years with one of his main ambitions being to bed a woman. It seemed so strange now, in these days when he questioned everything, that he could have blindly grouped himself with the most common desire of his peers. It was embarrassing, if anything. He could have lived such a docile life, the thought of being this close to dragons at the darkest recess of his unconscious mind.

:Difficult question?: The dragon interjected. :How?:

He shifted himself, trying to find comfort. A dark raven flew overhead, giving a single 'caw'. It dissipated into the fog as soon as it appeared.

:I've overcome everything with Toothless, but I don't know about that:.

He felt like the dragon was playing with him. _Was that Toothless' stare he felt on his back?_

:There's something about you....: Hiccup shivered as the dragon leaned close. Warm breath brushed against his cheek.

The dragon inspected him, working his snout all over the teen's body. He stopped at Hiccup's leg.

:This scent. What do Humans call it?:

His leg? Oh, the scar! He must have picked up the sword where it cut through. :Metal,: He explained. The word sounded strange, like it wasn't meant for this language. It left a tingling in his mind even after he said it.

:Who did this?:

:One of my clan mates:.

:Horrible:.

It was. It was so good to have it confirmed. For someone to speak at the injustice of it. He had only been trying to explain when they cut him down.

:I would seek revenge on the human that wounded Hiccup:.

Hiccup brushed a hand over the dragon's sleek hide. Like Toothless' it was softer than it looked.

:Come with me:. An easy request. He found himself complying as though it was preordained.

He lifted himself onto Nightshear's back, the dragon lowering his belly to the ground. Flicking his tail in excitement, he lifted off and powerfully thrust his wings down. Hiccup hung on as tight as he could as his - enthusiastic, and powerful!- mount thrust them higher and higher into the clouds. Soon, the ground below was a distant memory and the darkening night sky enveloped them. Stars flickered, cool air rushed over his head.

Nightshear crooned. It was magical. They plummeted into a smooth dive, then curved around in a stunning maneuver of flips and interconnected wild rolls. The stars spun around him, faster and faster until it cut and they were suddenly in a steep climb once again. He felt a bit sick. Hiccup grasped at the sudden building pain in the side of his head.

Then, they dropped. No, he dropped. He fell, crushed by unyielding gravity for a few hopeless moments, too terrified to scream.

Nightshear appeared at the edge of his vision and swooped in to catch him. Hiccup held onto the dragon as hard as he could as they came down, and had a hard time letting go even after they hit the ground. He barely registered Toothless' pained roars as they got painfully close and the two dragons quickly fell into a nonsensical fight, thrashing at each other wildly. Hiccup didn't even try to make sense of it with the throbbing pain in his head.

He pressed a palm to his temple, wishing the pain to disappear. Toothless soon sidled up to him and started asking demanding questions, but Hiccup silenced him with patient hands and motioned him to lie down. With a comfortable position established, he lay down under Toothless' chin, his body against the great dragon's heart. He let Toothless drape a wing over him and fell into sleep.

 

* * *

 

 

:Do you have _no_ idea what you are doing, Whelp?: Toothless angrily scuffed at the ground.

:Toothless, please just tell me what I did wrong:.

:That's right. Little Hiccup did wrong. Big Nightshear did wrong. Told me everything. Little Hiccup is not made for fast flips and rolls. Hiccup is not made for Nightshear:. The sentences were angry, punctuated by growls and thrashes of his head.

:Made for Nightshear?: He felt a pang of indignation that Toothless was referencing his small size so much. He knew how much that got on his nerves.

Toothless' eyes went wide. Then, he flipped around and motioned at the larger metallic dragon enjoying his breakfast meal. Compliantly, Nightshear walked over.

:Watch, Rival:.

The Night Fury rested himself on his hind legs, grabbed Hiccup with both paws, and brought him up, face to face. Hiccup struggled for half a second, splayed against his dragon's torso before he saw the intention. He leaned willingly, gratefully into it as Toothless brought soft skin onto his leathery maw in a possessive kiss.

Toothless was insistent, unrelenting. His tongue was massive, and he drove it inside Hiccup like it had meant to be there the whole time and he was just making up for it. It was claiming, instinctual. He was _proving_ something. Hiccup instantly startled at the lack of air and the sudden intrusion against his throat (Just how far could he push that thing, anyway?), but took in a sharp breath through his nostrils. He moaned, _submissively_ , at just how good Tooth was making him feel, the sound mostly drained by Tooth's large tongue claiming his mouth. The dragon was so passionate, so **wanting** , and it felt amazing to be wanted in this way. This was their first kiss that he could really lose himself in, and he _did_. The first times they had touched together in intimacy had been tentative and testing, but this was an affirmation of the bond they had; just how deep it ran and how good it could make them both feel in it's physical affirmation.

He opened his eyes a little, his eyelids fluttering. Nightshear was looking at them with something showing through his eyes. It looked like defeat.

Of course. Suddenly it made sense. That was more than a flight last night. Nightshear had made a move on him, and it had obviously driven Toothless to madness. He felt a sudden pang of guilt at his ignorance and cursed his idiocy.

He quickly, insistently tried to return the kiss as much as possible. The stupid dragon had much the upper hand in this act, of course, and when Hiccup tried to replicate the action of pushing his tongue into Tooth's maw it was only a gentle, exploratory motion. But he wanted Nightshear to see. Everyone to see, anyone who wanted to get between them. Toothless was **HIS. DRAGON.**

He was left flushed, and overwhelmed. Adrenaline coursed with a pulsing surge through his every fiber and his nerves seared. It was fire. It felt **_amazing_.**

 

* * *

 

 ~

  Toothless felt overwhelmed. More than that. The last few days had really taken it out of him, and it had taken all his energy to grab Hiccup and show that bastard just who Hiccup belonged to. As the kiss went on, though, it turned from a claiming gesture into a passionate overwhelming sensation that sparked his every nerve. He had wanted so badly to smack little Hiccup in the face and tell him to jump in a yak dung pile. Now that thought was lost, with every other, in this blinding moment of passion. The human was lustful and stirring. His brunette hair brushed against Toothless' face as Hiccup hungrily overpowered him and tasted all he could, wrestling his smaller tongue against Toothless' much larger one in the most provocative way.

Toothless blinked. Hiccup had suddenly broke the kiss with a soft wetness as they parted. He crooned a question at the teen as Hiccup dismounted him and flopped onto the grass. Nightshear was still watching, burning jealousy in every feature. He growled a warning at the older dragon, even if it wasn't needed. The act had solidified their status to all present. He looked worriedly at his precious human as he stumbled into the woods. Hiccup had been blushing so much recently. He felt concern for if it could be unhealthy for him. Another worry startled him, for all the twisting mid-air flips and rolls were really bad for the human at that velocity. They had pushed it too far on a few past test flights together and Toothless hated seeing Hiccup's suffering after. He could only be glad that the after-effects only lasted a few hours, and Hiccup had no trouble sleeping last night.

He rose to his feet and followed his boy into the woods. Hiccup was sitting on a fallen log overlooking a cliff edge. The night sky was beautiful, only a few wispy clouds and a smattering of remaining fog to tarnish it's perfection. Shining sparks of white lit up the dark blue blanket that housed them, each one it's own brilliantly luminescent gemstone. He took a seat on the log, careful as he could. How close should he sit? Hiccup really looked like he wanted some space right now, but was that from the other dragons, or from him as well?

Toothless didn't dare to make a sound. Was this what humans called _Romance?_ He had been so ready and so very willing to pin Hiccup down and rut him. Any other Night Fury with their mate would have done so, and claimed them with a deep savage bite between the neck and shoulder. The thought gave him shivers. It's not what Hiccup would have ever wanted. It seemed so... _Was there a word for it? Well, maybe destructive and selfish in this case.  
_ He felt a pang of shame at how that could affect Hiccup's small frame. Hiccup had spoken many times of how Vikings saw dragons as the most savage and primal beings -monsters- on Midgard (with Midgard being what Toothless basically called 'the land and seas'). The human technique of bonding and mating was both fascinating and frustrating, but so long as it was _Hiccup's_ technique it was all he could ever want or need.

 He spotted a butterfly gently fluttering through the foliage. Apt, he supposed. There seemed his stomach was full to the brim with butterflies right now, a wonderful yet jarring feeling (and one he felt he knew from the times he had managed to catch a butterfly in his mouth). Like falling, but falling into something life changing.

He almost dropped when he heard Hiccup suddenly talk in Viking-speak.

"Look, I've been stuck on that fish puddle of a rock called Berk for 16 years too long, and half of that time was stuck in the house because noone trusted me. Truth is, I always envied dragons for how they could just _leave_. I would take every chance I could to get a look at these blessed creatures that could go anywhere they wanted and do anything they wanted. You guys don't even have to cook your food, and you make your own house where you see fit. Its... _Beautiful_. That's why I spent my life chasing after dragons. That's why I never could have killed you, and it's why I couldn't help but make you fly again."

:Yeah, I feel like I'm flying:. He felt so giddy, like he could collapse any moment.

"Oh, Tooth, I'm sorry... I've been such an idiot."

:Nothing to apologize for:.

"Still, let me do something for you?" Toothless cocked his head. The young viking made a 'lie down' gesture with his hands and he willingly complied.

Lying stretched out with his belly against the grass, Toothless felt soft hands running over his back. He shuddered pleasantly and splayed his wings out to either side, unraveling them to their tips. He sighed as Hiccup skillfully pressed his palms into his back muscles, working out the pain and tenseness, leaving it with a feeling of renewal... Maybe little Hiccup could do this more often, and his whole body could be relaxed. The human's hands were magic. They had a power to tame his nerves and tension to make his whole being shiver in delight. He never would have known.

When sleep overcame him, it was bliss. They flew the night sky, and touched every little gemstone star.


	11. Rain

They were awoken by the Gronckle, intent in every bulldogged feature and clearly impatient. Hiccup tried to brush the nuisance away, but only got as far as swatting it's flank.

The dragon was somewhat young, but postured and puffed itself up to seem bigger. She reminded Hiccup somewhat of Snotlout.

:Just how much sleep does Toothless-Hiccup need?:

:Fledgeling...: Hiccup snorted. Right now, he would give anything to return to sleep. He couldn't help but notice the startling progress the sun had already made through the sky when it almost blinded his sleep-ridden eyes.

 _..._ He _had_ been spending alot of time exploring the new and wonderful realm of dreamwalking with Toothless last night. Perhaps they had even overslept some doing so. But that did not mean he did not take his goal of destroying the evil Alpha seriously. Ever since his theory of mind control over the local dragon populace had been verified he had been resolute to stop it. This Gronckle was maybe the biggest advocate for such a mission, but he fully noted how she left it up to himself and Toothless to lead the charge.

And _they_ were the one who rescued her in the first place! The first thing she could do was allow them a little sleep...

A sudden blast of plasma hitting just short of their new flockmate made him smile. Toothless had managed to somehow articulate his thoughts in the most eloquent way possible.

Though he saw the dragon flinch and retreat and felt some slight despair at the stocky dragon's forlorn reaction and resigned walk. He pushed off the ground and stumbled next to her, still trying to clear his head.

:We will defeat the one who held a grip over your mind. I swear it:.

:Mate-Of-Alpha?: She questioned.

Hiccup smiled, despite himself. It was not exactly a correct title, but he felt himself get excited anyway. His blood rushed at the idea. It was a little bit too much for this early in the morning, but the renewed concept of being a _dragon's mate_ made him warm in such very sensitive areas and sparked a nerve-tingling fire within. Nevertheless, he nodded.

:Will Rock-Dragon get her revenge on the imprisoning humans aswell?:

He supposed that was her way of referring to the boulder-class of dragons she belonged to. Toothless had never made such a kinship-title in his talks, and it made Hiccup wonder if he really was that one-of-a-kind. Was there a _stealth_ or _night_ class of dragons? Nothing really compared to his dragon.

:No: He humms. He considers maybe making an exception for some of the more gods-forsaken irritating vikings on the island, but the thought passes.

He steals a backwards glance at Toothless, still lying peacefully in a half-slumber. Was there a luminescent blue sheen to his fin-tips? Hiccup shook his head. He must be imagining things, or it was the way the light was casting.

What was clear was that Toothless could not fool him, no matter how hard he tried, and the dragon's current attempt at trying to look like he didn't hear or care about his conversation with the Gronkle was both cute and pointless.

Hiccup sighed, lightly, as he walked back into the fold of dragons. Wary, he noticed how the supposed proximity of the Alpha's nest had a real effect on some of them. The pack was not exactly _downtrodden,_ but they did have an air of slight desperation, as though each fighting their own internal battle that held back any way of finding inner calm.

He steals a look at the handsome metallic dragon, and sees its eyes watching him intently, a complex mix of emotions held in their depths. Nightshear, as he had called himself, was curled around himself seemingly as low to the ground and inconspicuous as he could make himself appear. As Hiccup approached, the dragon bristled slightly, trying very hard to look relaxed and composed.

:The Gronckle is calling me Mate-Of-Alpha:..

Nightshear crooned a little, lowering his snout to the ground. :Salis? If Toothless sees you with me. Trouble:.

:Aww, you're a bit scared of him, aren't you? It's okay, I won't let him hurt you:.

He tries to place a reassuring hand on Nightshear's flank, but the dragon flinches away.

:Human is teasing me; the shining beast complains, growling soft yet deep in a confused tone.

Hiccup snorts. If there was any dragon that came close to being as unwillingly cute as Toothless could be, this was it.

:I don't know if this will sound like a silly question, but you were all so easy to accept me as part of the group. Why?:

:Maybe I will withhold answer as punishment for teasing me:. A playful shine washes over his eyes.

:Nah, you wouldn't:. He now had his fingers all over Nightshear's back, despite the other dragon's misgivings, and was trailing them down the length of his spinal spikes playfully. Hiccup had spent much too long taking advantage of dragon's weaknesses by now to be dissuaded by the nauseating experience last night, and he couldn't help but wonder what secrets this new species might have.

"Mhhhhrrrrrrrmmmph," he growled. Hiccup smiled as he worked his fingers at the spot just at the base of Nightshear's tail. :Oh, such clever paws! Yesyesyesyesyes....:

Nightshear gave such a despairing mix of a croon and a growl when Hiccup released his touch that spoke of desperate disappointment and wanting.

He had seen the same thing when Toothless  _really_ wanted something or a group of Terrible Terrors would beg him to play with them and scratch their bellies. He had a theory on how this was a technique all dragon species had evolved to get what they want without any real effort, and seen it from time to time in dragon's own social interactions. Apparently, by expressing themselves just right, dragons could convey the _wanting_ in their heart in a way that dug into the recipient's soul and made itself _unbearable_ to witness.

:More, please. Anything Hiccup wants. But more~:. He seemed to end the last word not of his own accord, but due to the wash of bliss.

:Good. Then answer my questions:. Hiccup tried to make himself look impassable.

:Hrmmm.. I said there was something about Hiccup last night. I feel it in him. More like a dragon than human. Looks like human, but dragon for soul:.

:Dragon?:

:Maybe like Night Fury, Maybe:. The curious dragon scratched the ground, bashful, tenuous, then curled a little into himself.

Hiccup was only just considering what he had said when the first spots of rain started falling on his head and he winced at the concept of his already ruined hair becoming even more unruly. He sighed and started to look around for shelter when a familiar shadow draped over him and he felt Toothless' warmth over his back, and the raindrops on his head stopped. Nightshear immediately flinched back, but Hiccup had already reached a steadying hand to his partner that at once spoke _halt_ and _reassurance_.

Toothless huffed, affronted. He brought his wing down, wrapping it like a blanket around his human and transforming it from an umbrella into a tight wrap against his ribs. Hiccup playfully wriggled, but he knew Toothless could feel the insincerity of the action and greedily drank in Toothless' warmth in his snug embrace.

:Toothless, I wasn't-:

:No need:. Toothless huffs again and croons soft a sound of love and belonging, :I trust. Hiccup wants to talk to other dragons. Hiccup wants to touch other dragons. Curiosity:.

Then, his hold is released and he is momentarily stunned as the large black dragon manages to flip himself around to catch Hiccup _right where he wants him_. A large forked tongue slathers his whole body in a soft yet forceful motion.

 _That's an action of affirmation and love_ , he reminds himself. Right now, he's really just too stunned by Toothless' acceptance to protest to anything. Only yesterday Tooth would have pushed Nightshear to the other side of the island for daring to steal Hiccup's affections and soft, clever hands.

:Hiccup?:

He blinks. Toothless is shielding him again with his wing, and he locks eyes with the big beast, hand splayed on Toothless' heart.

:I have an idea. For the Alpha, a trick like Hiccup would do. Clever... But I think it is not right. Would put little fragile Whelp in danger and I think I am a bad dragon to think it:..

:What is it?:

Toothless shakes his head in a way only Hiccup would, quick and crude. :I don't want Hiccup to know. To know that Hiccup knows-: The Night Fury pauses a moment and thinks - :I have been thinking of a thing that would endanger Hiccup:. He trills a little in indecision.

:You don't want me in danger, even if it is just a thought?:

Toothless makes a similar sound to what Nightshear previously had, of wanting and quiet desperation, his earplates flat against his head and eyes lowered similarly. The tone was different but Hiccup understood; Toothless needed confirmation on this. He slid further against him without really realizing it, subconsciously feeling Tooth's heartbeat against him and the almost-course scale against his skin.

:Don't want Hiccup to hurt:.

:Bud, if this is how you think we can defeat the Alpha, then I want you to do it. You don't have to tell me what, you just have to know that I trust you:.

:Very sure?:

:It's a risk. But the bigger risk is that thing getting some kind of control over you, like it has all the other dragons. I will take any risk but that:.

:And would do for Hiccup; He responded as though it was all obvious. :Whelp will be okay to be uncomfortable for awhile?:

"Whatever it is, Toothless. Yes."

Toothless thrummed happily, sending vibrations all through Hiccup's body. He pressed closer and smiled into Toothless' hide, content in their agreement.

:Best to leave now before we lose another day, yes?:

Hiccup couldn't immediately discern the voice from the dragons he had met.

:Not with the rain!; Toothless roared back.

:What? Rain is fine:.

:No, we will wait; he heard Toothless snarl at the affronting dragon, seemingly putting an end to the matter.

Hiccup roamed his hand against the scale :I really don't mind the rain, Toothless; He lied. He could hear the beat of rain on the leathery black wing over him getting heavier and more insistent.

:We will stay for now; his dragon stated. He felt Toothless breathe deep and course the energy through his body, a gentle thrum that Hiccup leaned into.

Something chilling broke the newfound silence; A distressed, deep and rasping roar. Threatening and full of anger, it shook Hiccup out of his rest. His first instinct was the outcry was directed at him, but he felt Toothless shift quickly and reflexively into a combat-ready position and knew it must be the brood of the last bear from yesterday, smelling the blood on his Night Fury. Toothless was already moving to defend himself and his love, but as he did so it gave Hiccup a window to see past him. The Gronckle attacked the Bear head-on, the other dragons ready to back her up. A well-placed shot immediately threw the huge beast onto it's side.

The Gronckle - Salis, If Nightshear was correct - then snapped the beast with it's jaws with a sickening crunch and breaking of sinew and bone. He winced, watching the gory spectacle. Hiccup felt suddenly very, very wrong - He knew for a fact that Gronkles were rock-eaters - that was an intrinsic part of their being they took a point of pride of as a species. _How, then, was this one looking at the fresh red meat of this kill like food, and just as importantly, trying to hog it for herself?_

The next part was hard to watch. With a glazed look to her eyes and snapping remarks at the others, Salis tried to lift the whole corpse in it's small jaws. After a few repeated attempts she once again ravaged through it's flesh with savage intent. All the while, her ears twitched and body shook disturbingly.

He debated whether to try some kind of intervention, yet Toothless' strong forearm held him back preemptively from the dragon, even as Salis' ears twitched towards some unseen direction and she hauled the mauled half-corpse with the strength of a dragon twice her size off the island. He could read dragon's body language well enough. Salis was scared. Scared enough to put herself in danger and terrified of not being able to accomplish what she just did.

 They had to follow her.

 


	12. Flight

When he mounts Toothless and they take flight, pushing into the clouds with powerful thrusts of leathery scaled wings, it's _cold_. Deathly cold.

Hiccup gathers leftover fabric from the saddlebag below him. With little time to make a decision on this, he works on impulse and starts shredding it into strips. Dreamwalking with his dragon _had_ given him alot of time to think (it also seemed to have given him many scrapes and a few light bruises, and from this he deduced that they had tumbled over each other quite a bit in the night. But Hiccup wasn't  _squashed_ , and the reassuring familiar musk of Toothless' scent that was left behind from such a tirade gave him a feeling of giddiness, rather than worry over such light bruises. Startled at first by the tactile _realness_ and emotionally overwhelming _sensuality_ of that realm, he had after a few attempts grown accustomed to the strange feelings of that over-worldly sleep dimension and was now determined to put them to practice for real.

Toothless may have not understood when Hiccup had ripped leather in the dreamspace and wrapped it over his ears, so, and after much fidgeting, he could no longer hear. The dragon may have twitched his earplates and rumbled curiosity at Hiccup's questions as to the exact nature of the Alpha's voice, call, and it's power over other dragons... He felt Toothless had puzzled out Hiccup's plan by the end of their dreamwalk, but if not he was not about to explain _now_. There was not nearly enough time or opportunity.

Hiccup flicks the flying apparatus to the 'glide' position. Hopefully, with the amount of fine adjustments he had made back in the cove, this would allow Toothless to fly himself through any non-demanding maneuver, although it would put strain on the Night Fury to overcome the resistance to gain altitude. With a touch behind Toothless' head, the young man rises and stands arms outstretched as they fly. Holding the strips of shredded fabric, he gestures to the other dragons a _come-here_ motion and waits to see which one will comply first, if any. A part of his mind argues that sharing this plan earlier would have been a good idea, but he shelves that as a small regret and watches as Nightshear, of course, sidles over and warbles questionably at him.

Hiccup puts his hands out flat, indicating _hold-still_ , even as he feels Toothless' discontent below his feet. His dragon's concerned rumble shudders him a little, but he readies to leap onto the spiked metallic beast opposite.

With a push against the black scale below him, he does so. In the spit-second moment of transition fear grips him. Then, Nightshear banks slightly and lets the little human grip and scrabble to a position where he can wrap the thick fabric over the dragon's head and tie it securely in a fast and frantic series of motions. He had chosen this particular fabric as a precautionary measure and a useful thing to have on hand quite a while ago, and now he smiled, with just a hint of exhilaration, at how well it seemed to hold and serve it's purpose for the unconventional plan he had devised.

After a few checks to make sure it was blocking all sound he repeats the process on the rest of the flock. Jumping from dragon-to-dragon, he realizes, is a thrill not unlike jumping from Toothless, freefalling through miles of open air at terminal velocity, and then letting the dragon catch him oh-so-close to lethal danger. 

When he reaches the Nadder it seems wary. Hiccup is unsure just quite what to say or do until the bird-like dragon chirps impatience at him.

:Go on. We haven't got long:.

He mumbles apologies and fumbles with the last strip. For whatever else, the Nadder seemed to understand and comply with the plan, and Hiccup found himself grateful for it's approval. Still, the awkwardness between them becomes too much to bear and he rushes back to Toothless' solid comfort as soon as he knows the fabric is secure.

An icy chill to the air that cuts right through him and almost forces him down onto Toothless' back of it's own accord. He feels Toothless recognize it in his human and feels the concerned warble from the large reptile resonate through his suddenly shattered pride. For all he had been trying to believe in himself, Hiccup's resolve breaks. Whether it was the look that Nadder had given him or the way the Gronkle had spoken, he didn't know.

It could have been neither and just a rush of feeling that caught up with him.

For a moment, he wondered how these dragons, these huge majestic beasts with the power of blazing fire and soaring eagles, could ever look at him as anything but a teddybear that their leader, the all-powerful Night Fury, comforted and sheltered. He cursed inwardly his fragility, his inability to grow any bulk or muscle, and finally his own futile ambition. Hiccup was just as out of place in the dragon world as he was as a Viking, and no amount of unearned love could ever change it.

He wondered why he had ever bothered to get out of bed all those times and chase down a downed dragon he himself entangled and crippled when the whole village had made it very clearly known how he is good for nothing but screwing everything the Hel up. Of course. _How could he ever be good for anything except creating false hope and stupid ideas and things that ruined everything else?_ He trails his hand over gloss black scale and sighs into the deafening roar of the wind.

A blue-gold flash catches his eye from the corner of his vision. Until this flight, Hiccup had almost forgotten the Deadly Nadder they had unchained. With all the recent chaos (and the way it seemed to keep to itself on the edge of the group, as though untrusting or self-righteous to a degree) he had only had time for the intriguing dragon that was seemingly infatuated with him, and the disapproving one that had brought on Toothless' wrath. Now, he saw her(?) watching him keenly. Before Hiccup can unravel any meaning from the look, the strange spiked dragon takes a dive and re-positions somewhere beyond his vision. The sudden encounter left him shocked, but the one thing he had seen was the _recognition_ in the Nadder's eyes, as though she had seen through his thoughts, knew his battle.

:Hold: Commands Toothless. Hiccup spasms upright, but obliges quickly and naturally, too absorbed in his own thoughts to wonder at the sudden request. Sudden, and jarringly quick, his world spun and the roaring sea took place from the clouds.

They were upside down, and Toothless spoke quickly and commanding to him an imperative order.

:Climb onto me and into my mouth:

Hiccup glanced ahead at Toothless' maw, but in the same moment he sees the reason for his dragon's insistence; through the thinning fog he sees a huge mountain with hundreds of dragons, all hauling their kill into it's entrance. Their time has run out, they had reached their battle, and he needs Hiccup in his mouth as his kill. So Hiccup put his misgivings and self doubts back where they belonged, in the deepest and darkest recess of his mind to better focus on what he was needed for. He slung himself around onto Toothless' now up-facing belly and dexterously maneuvered into a sidelong position in his dragon's open mouth, head hanging out one side and legs the other.

He closes his eyes and feels Toothless first retract his teeth, then clamp down on his trapped torso with wet and forceful gums. Then, his world spins once more just before they dive, all too quickly into that dark abyss.

Past the beating wings of the many, many dragons around them and the haunting echo of a monstrous controlling force Hiccup whispers in the intimate tone they shared between each other;

:Trust:.

And his Night Fury echoes the known sentiment with that chuffed tone of _of course you fool,_ : **Trust** :.

There was no more time or place for self-doubt. _If that was what he wanted he should have done it months ago._

Hiccup startled at the thought, even as they flew through seemingly endless tunnels running throughout the huge volcano. It wasn't a thought he recognized, and it carried a warmth that was as familiar as _self_ , and yet not so. It was Toothless. And the message was as clear as himself because Toothless was even more so. He could not see himself, not really, but Toothless could. The Night Fury, he now knew, saw depths and angles of Hiccup's psyche that would always be hidden to him, and they were as obvious to his dragon as their eventual pairing had been.

His frustration at this was only overshadowed by a wave of love he felt in turn, as natural and unstoppable as anything. And that was good. It made sense, if he could accept it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been playing with the idea that dragon-speak 'thoughtspeak' sounds a bit like when Eastern-European/Russians have a weak grasp on English grammar, but as to whether I'm okay with them having that kind of accent is another matter entirely.


	13. Hounded

Something held him calm, even as the fire roared below in that terrifying great abyss, the heart of the volcano, and so many many pairs of eyes looked at them from perches on rocks all around, and a dreadful presence of power in that same abyss made itself known like a force above all others.

He snapped his vision at all the dangers of this place he had willingly brought himself to and desperately tried to think of a way out, a plan B, if everything didn't go as he hoped. Hiccup was but one small scrawny viking boy, in the mouth of a giant lizard, surrounded by hundreds of other giant, fire-breathing, crushing, slashing, lizards.

As still and relaxed as his body strangely seemed to be, his mind raced.

He was lifted, and Toothless pushed himself towards where the Gronkle must have positioned herself. Even as he felt the great, racking shudders of Toothless' powerful muscles around him, Hiccup spots pale-orange scales and small buzzing wings out the edge of his eye. Then, a greater force suddenly and much too powerfully washes over them, and something just beyond his hearing beats through Hiccup's ears in painful, searing waves. He sees the Gronkle reel from the subsonic attack, too, and he struggles to retain his place in Toothless' safe maw even as his muscle instinct claws at him to put his hands over his ears.

Toothless tilts forward and to the side, with a great deal of effort. Hiccup be mourns for a moment how he had not adequately equipped his dragon for this solo flight and the apparent strain it was placing on him. Even with Hiccup as close as he was the disadvantage of losing half his control meant Toothless was having to make up for in with brute strength. Hiccup had always had pride in the flying apparatus he had designed, but he felt more clearly than ever right now the pain at why he had been driven to create the thing in the first place. He had shot Toothless down, crippled him, threatened to cut his heart out. If his dragon, labored as he now was, was shot down in this horrid volcano, he would be guilty of twice 'killing' him. A grounded dragon was a dead dragon, Gobber would say. But what would he say to this? His mentor had been mutilated by dragons at least twice, and his stories of how that had happened bad been both outrageous and varying. But Gobber, like most vikings, was loyal to his friends and would sacrifice alot to ensure others safety. Would any of his tribe approve of the way he was treating the one he said he loved?

The thought flashed through his mind in an instant, long enough for them to come side-to-side with the confused Gronkle. It took Salis staring straight through him to shake Hiccup into a state of clear-mindedness. His heart thudded, making it's beat known in his ears. ** _Thud-Thud-Thud_** went his heartbeat, and with it, a huge vicious presence knowing all his doubt and fear. It instantly fed on the scared part of his brain, even as it hungered for his flesh and willed him to drop into it's waiting maw. Hiccup's whole body shook, but it wasn't from revulsion or terror. They had slammed right into the side of Salis, and the Gronkle rolled with the motion just as Hiccup shook from it, pushing her towards the exit.

Then, a roar. It blasted through everything as a thunderstrike rolls across the sea. It shook the cavern, dislodging rocks and snapping hundreds of heads in her direction.

She pushed up from the tainted nest.

Never-ending gluttony and crushing oppression.

Power. Control. Hunger.

Her scales were black as the hard volcanic rock around them, and the double-sets of three eyes looked about in search of tribute. Hiccup didn't know where the little Gronkle had gone, but he hoped it was far away. This monster's mouth, with it's massive razor-sharp teeth, was large enough to swallow Toothless in one gulp and not even consider him a snack. Hiccup himself was smaller than the sheep and other cattle the obedient slaves had carried to her, but he would still be considered a small morsel of food, because it was hard to imagine this thing rejecting anything that could feed it's massive appetite to grow.

Hiccup had read on large dragons in the book. He had fed Toothless' massive appetite and marveled at how half a catch could easily be wolfed down by the Night Fury leaving him wanting more. Dragons had a different hunger, and it seemed they could do so sporadically, feeding insatiably in good hunting seasons so they would have enough reserves for later. In lean times they could go days without food, maybe even weeks. Hiccup did not know Toothless to be a hibernator, but the dragon was also living in strange circumstances, so it was entirely possible that his kind shut themselves down in their winter caves and waited until the sun shone once more.

It seemed the great beast below them was a hibernator, but also constantly feeding. It made sense, he deduced, that she would want to keep a huge size as a deterrent to any dragons that would question her rule. The minions now flying from their perches with their catch were afraid, but more than that they were jaded and obedient. The constant effect of her mind control had brought them to the point where there was no other life to be considered, and raiding settlements for food to appease he was their only option. Could they flee? He supposed that thought, that concept was another thing taken by her voice, her control. Toothless had lost all memory of his time under her rule, so it seemed all these slave dragons thought was how to best serve their Queen.

Toothless growled. He sensed the injustice of it all, the horrifying loss of freedom and free-will that had been taken for so many years from so many lives. How it had ruined these dragons, all his kin, and the entire world around the evil Queen. They sensed it. Hiccup and Toothless together, as one, yearned for an end to the greed and selfishness, the ruin and destruction.

He felt his other half growl at the giant feeding below. He also felt her hunger and knew if one of her supposed minions would not give up his meal...

The others! Hiccup heard himself gasp, and struggled to writhe himself into a position where he could see out of the tight embrace of Toothless' slick and tight-gripped maw.

There! There, behind a pillar was Nightshear, his eyes locked on Hiccup with a flurry of emotions in them, most of them worry-related.

And behind another pillar, and another, the Nadder, her pointed spikes bristling when his eyes locked with hers. With each split-second he felt the danger rising, but the Nadder gazes at him, eyes steely. The look is one of quiet confidence, for the Nadder holds a vindication Hiccup does not know and can only look apon. He and Toothless are young, the look says, but they have a resolve born of each other that is unmatched, and that resolve can inspire. Her draconid eyes switch to Nightshear, noting how intently the curious and strangely beautiful metallic dragon dotes on and pursues Hiccup.

Hiccup tries his best to return the admiration. For all the dragons he had met, Stormfly had seemed to be the most distant, ambivalent. In a race of overly emotional and instinctual creatures he seemed to have found one that held her emotions to herself behind a veil of self-assured confidence. But this was something that could give strength, too. To have someone asses your strengths in a measured and somewhat distant way was uncomfortable, sure. And yet the same could be said of an overbearing and aggressively friendly ally.

He wills her to stay back, hidden. Even as he does so he feels Toothless wave his head, Hiccup within his maw, snug, in a _hold position_ gesture, this one aimed at their other flock-mate. The resulting distressed wail from Nightshear is instantaneous, but Toothless lets a low warning growl in response just before a powerful downbeat throws them into the air and towards the Queen.

With his catch firmly held within his large mouth, the Night Fury flies with the last of the Queen's servants to offer their meal into her waiting maw. Here, the heat can be felt much more clearly rising from it's source below, rising in heatwaves to fill the entire chamber with it's warmth. Under different circumstances, it would be a welcome respite from the cold, as even dragons, with their hearts of fire and thick hides, enjoy a warm spot to rest. Yet this heat was tainted, foreboding. It stifled the air in the cave and cast a shackling force over every creature within this evil lair.

Hiccup shuffles himself closer to oblivion as they reach the mark. The message is clear; _drop me now, into her mouth._

Toothless hesitates, and it shocks Hiccup with the amazing predictability of it.

If only he had the time to shout at the stupid black lizard, ' _You IDIOT! You said to trust? YOU said that!'  
_

Instead, he unsheathes his knife, and cuts along the top of his dragon's jaw in a fast and wild motion. He sees Toothless, in the blink of an eye, yelp and unhinge his jaw, then let out a subsequent and much more panicked yelp-roar at the sudden sight of his boy dropping towards the great monster's mouth. Toothless falls further and further from vision above him, but the mouth of the great beast is still someway below him. And Toothless moves  _fast._

The sleek, jet black, elegant savior _dives._ It's a great rushing sound of the air around him, the beat of wingflaps from all around. But more than anything in that moment, it's the visage of Toothless, his ever faithful and more beautiful than anything Night Fury with his wings flat against his sides and his green orbs filled with focus to save him.

The next moment is crucial. More crucial than anything had ever been, even the moment he had first broken that barrier of fear to touch Toothless for the first time could not compare. As long as this monster lived, Toothless could still be taken from him at any time, stripped of his personality and made hollow. Worse, killed for denying the Queen. He had to do this, for Toothless and all the other dragons that had been misunderstood, treated as monsters and had their whole lives taken from them. 

So, as clumsy as Hiccup could be, as sarcastic and snarky and sometimes underhanded, right now his muscles tense, his vision narrows, and he twists himself _just so_ to land on Toothless' back. The dragon receives him with a soft thud, but the shocking pain of impact is lost to Hiccups' foot on the pedal and hands against Toothless' scale. It's clearly not the _Up_ position Toothless was expecting, to get him, and more importantly, his rider, out of danger. Hiccup can hear it in his shocked _yelp_ and the halting beat of his wings rippling muscles against Hiccup's legs. Toothless cannot fight against the other half of himself. When they are flying, they are a single being, and to go against Hiccup's direction is to go against himself. So Hiccup reminds, :Trust; and angles them down in those few heartbeats, just as the Queen rears her ugly head up and readies her flame.

The bright glow of it and whistling pre-fire are all the warning he needs. Hiccup pushes down on the left side at the edge of Toothless' neck to signal a bank. The white-hot flame brushes their flank from the narrow dodge, but it's one shot down and at least a few seconds before she can muster another.

The blast shatters above them, at the roof of the cavern. Rocks fly and burst from the impact, raining down and adding to the growing chaos. He can hear the loyal servants starting to give chase, as slow as they might be. All this plays at the back of his mind as Hiccup steadies himself and flicks the foot pedal once more. His heart lurches. On pure, unthinking instinct he quickly presses his lips to the top of Toothless' forehead, tender and unbelievably pure in a moment of absolute devastation. He tries to tell himself it's not a goodbye kiss. Toothless will hate this next part.

With his knife still death-gripped in his fist, he reaches out and jumps. His arm swings, and makes contact as an edge of pointed steel makes contact _just above_ the Queen's set of left eyes. Then, it digs in, and the combined force of gravity and Hiccup's small weight drags it through all three eyes in a stunningly brutal and gory arc.

She SCREAMS. By gods, does she SCREAM. Hiccup has never heard anything so horrible, so _wrong,_ as the sound that twisted monster makes after he wounds it. Teeth clenched, he takes a victorious moment, midair, to first blow the hair out of his eyes and then look at his attack and confirm the damage. _That_ was a wound that would possibly never heal, making the great monster potentially forever blind on her left side.

He drops, predictably, onto Toothless. The dragon _whips_ him, chastising him for being so reckless, so daring and dangerous and _amazing._ That last part is muted, but Hiccup feels it too, as an undercurrent with it's own tone of spitefulness.

Then, panic. He feels it in the sudden ferocity and desperation of Toothless' motions as he forces them to push up from obvious and life-threatening danger. Before he can even turn to see it Hiccup knows it's the great monster's teeth behind them, and when he _does_ look they are close enough to touch. And she's inhaling, a force that drags at them and claws them towards her against all Toothless' raw power. With all the will he can muster, he pushes his dragon forwards, joining their ambition in a moment of pure terror. With one, final push they dive behind a large pillar holding much of the cave in place. It's risky, but they know full well how the flight gear does not stand up to dragonfire, and _Toothless_ knows his boy does not either.

The impact is deafening. Past a flurry of wings and tails they keep pushing, Hiccup's mind now only on saving his dragon before the entire world crashes down around them. And that world is fire. The blast from the Red Death's fireball had splintered from it's original point of impact, taken out the entire rock pillar and blasted a crater in the wall beyond it. Flames licked at every surface of the cavern, creating an apocalyptic miniverse of destruction and half-blind hatred. Yet, looking back in worried glimpses, he sees her spot them with her three good eyes. Now spent of fire, the Queen _ROARS and SCREECHES_ her fury _._ A multitude of dragon species bump and brush against them as they make for the narrow opening above, rocks falling and cracks splitting the entire mountain.

The passage bends, twists. There's barely enough room to maneuver through the horde of massive flying reptiles and nothing to see except scales on every side. Toothless must have some instinct here, the logical part of his brain notes, even as Hiccup grips a death-hold on the leather and buries his face into Toothless' neck, forsaking any chance of understanding the situation anymore. There's so much noise, but a strange blast of force from what must have been Toothless' maw stands out. He feels the shockwave resonate throughout them both, but also the purposeful confidence it instills in the dragon he's riding.

When he looks up, it's because of the CRASH behind them. A massive, spiked and scaled head splattered with blood and scorch marks, raked by many comparatively smaller claws forces itself through the much too small passage. Still, it rakes and tears it's forceful way towards them. Hiccup jerks his head forward at the sudden onset of light from the other direction. Just as the many other dragons around them disperse, he sees Salis and Stormfly both clear the cacophony of falling debris and panicked wings just behind them.

 The monstrous tyrant crashes it's enormous body through the rock opening a moment later, and the ancient volcano gives a roar of it's own as it collapses on itself with the force of a thousand dragons. By then, Toothless and Hiccup are already in the clouds. For a moment, he wishes they could stop. Different plans run their course through Hiccup's mind, beaten and bruised as it is. This is the one moment they could get the drop on her; She wouldn't expect a counter attack when they just got free. They could stop and regroup with the other dragons of their small team here, make sure everyone got out. Hiccup feels a pang of guilt over his sudden worry for Nightshear in particular. He was still conflicted on the dragon, after all Toothless had said on the meaning and consequence of his actions. Still, Nightshear had looked out for him, and he couldn't help but latch onto the feeling of being wanted or cared about like that.

Toothless was still pushing his muscular onyx wings with unrelenting force. His whole body shook at the end of each downthrust, and his breath pushed out in angry, forced gasps. Hiccup lays a palm on the dragon's head, between his earflaps and just above his eyes. He keeps it there until he feels the Night Fury start to calm and steady himself under the teen's touch.

Finally, they find a secluded Island and wearily descend on it's far side. Toothless braces his landing with a small tree, using it as a makeshift cushion against his belly. It snaps under him as they come down, but it's enough to steady the landing and take the pressure off his defeated wings.

They curl into each other and, exhausted, quickly fall into sleep against each other's hide.

 

* * *

 

                                                                                                         **-Years Later-**

                                                                                        _(Continued from Chapter 5, 'Accused')_

 

Astrid steadied her eyes on the elder dragons. But when her eyes flickered a bit and locked their steely blue onto Hiccup, they stayed there.

 "Hiccup, would you come up here?"

 Hiccup looked at Toothless' paws with dismay. He wished in this moment, more than anything, to mend those wounds. Hesitantly, he nodded. Shaken by the ferocity of the last few minutes, his footing is at first unsteady.

"You are going to explain, right now, what the Hel is going on. And I swear to Odin if another dragon carries me around, pushes me, or roars in that _'I'm better than you'_ way, someone is getting hurt."

It would make alot of sense that, surrounded by dragons, Astrid would be the one hurt in that scenario. But the statement had triggered an ingrained respect for Astrid's physical prowess in Hiccup's mind, and he nodded again, respectfully.

 :You don't speak their language, so you didn't hear any of it, but they want you to testify on whether it's okay for Toothless to.... _be_ with me:.

He strained with the effort of it. He was still burning with embarrassment. _What those dragons had said about him and Toothless! What Toothless had even said!_

After a second, he looked at Astrid for a reaction, but found none. With another flash of shame, he realizes his mistake and repeats his sentence aloud.

"What?" Is her shocked response.

Hiccup has half a mind to just bolt right now. The whole _thing_ had been a complete mess and had worn his frayed emotions and small sense of pride down to nothing. Dragons may have their own sensibilities, yes. But after years with Toothless it still floored him whenever _this_ happened.

Still, he and Toothless were _One._ That was a fact, like the sun or the stars, and as much as Astrid may deny that fact it still remained. Under his fear lies a great well of indignation. After all he had accomplished, Hiccup the _Useless_ , and Astrid was about to, once again, act better than he was. The same as they all had, his entire childhood. All the mockery, taunts and shame and now she had one more thing to use against him.

Once more her words came back to him, the same ones that had replayed in his head from the girl that had accused and grown ever more angry with him in that training ring, all those years ago.

" _Is this some kind of a joke to you_?!"

Looking back at it now, the whole situation did look like some kind of sick joke, which took some poison out of the words that had haunted Hiccup for years.

_"Find out which side you're on."_

At the time, he was fairly sure he was on the dragon's side, being the only one who actually knew better. Now, he didn't take sides. Fighting and death are born from conflict and disagreement, and it was all as unappealing as it had been back then.

So he repeats himself again, slowly and carefully.

"You... And the _dragon!"_ The last part is punctuated by a twist of Astrid's mouth, a flash of her eyes. With an unsteady but quick hand, she reaches out to him. To a line of black scales, like the many others, that had grown over him in the past month.

Hiccup flinches. All the time he had been around the two other dragons he had been hiding the scales. They were markings he would have hidden from Astrid too, had he been given the chance. In truth, he felt of the jet black scales that had been growing, at first over his scars and bruises, but more lately in patches and lines, as an intimate and personal thing. This was something Toothless had brought out in him, a physical manifestation of how deep their bond ran, of how pure base emotion could impact his life. They were marks of permanence, binding him forever to the Night Fury, his love.

Now Astrid had her fingers trailing the line of dragonscale that ran from the underside of his chin down his neck. It ran straight past his mating-scar. He gritted his teeth. _Never_ had he felt such a deep invasion of privacy. Yet, if this was what it took....

Something shifted within her, and he saw it. Like Astrid had managed to put aside her own long and battered story of exertion and suffering and managed to consider his side. There was no doubt that she must have had to scrape past, knife-edge, to be alive today. The same was true for Hiccup. It was something they could share.

Whether her next question was to change the subject, or mere curiosity, only Astrid knew.

She frowned. "How is your leg?"

That one caught him off guard. She remembered that? She had taken notice then, in the first place?

Hiccup raises his trouser leg. The shuffles of the Elder Dragons are obvious as they move to get a better look. His leg is, of course, one of the most scaled areas of his body. It still gave him a faint pain, at times. That cut had gone to the bone, and there had been times he had awoken sweating with the memory of being cut down. Now, there was a distinctive pattern to the scales that had grown there.

"I'm happy he took care of you." Astrid offers her hand. Gratefully, he takes it. They clasp fingers together for a moment, and it feels like friendship.

:It seems you two have grown together quite well. I am reminded of the tale of two dragons, grown from acorns and planted right next to each other so that they grew against each other, intertwining and sharing the sunlight between them until they could muster the strength, together, to overcome the curse and return to their natural forms. Does that sound apt to you?:

Hiccup had noticed throughout his talk with the elders that they were especially well spoken. The eldest of those on Berk, even with all their years of experience and all the time they had to develop such a vast vocabulary basically spoke the same as a middle-aged dragon. It seemed that for dragons the young were the very passionate and impulsive, driven, and playful. But they could not adequately convey their conviction to others in any real sense, at least not in 'spoken' word. Through movement, and action, however... With their facial expressions and a flick of their ear, tail or claw the whelps and fledglings could say what was sometimes beyond words. 

Hiccup frowned. :It's more like we banged into each other in a freak occurrence of fate:.

At the elder's sudden look of shock he raises a palm. :But that's okay! We _like_ banging into each other!:

There's a choked sniggering behind him as Toothless barely contains himself. Hiccup is about to ask his Night Fury just what is so funny when he suddenly realizes what he said and the heat once again fills his cheeks.

The blush burning all across his face, he bonks Toothless on the nose in retribution and tries his best to appear unaffected before the dragons. The big Night Fury, in return, gives a hearty shove. It's clear, however, behind their air of wisdom and experience, they too are just as amused as Toothless is. Hiccup, knocked to the ground and out of breath is taken into an impromptu wrestling match, but whether it is due to Toothless' competitive spirit or something else, he wasn't completely sure on. What he did know was that Toothless had a very certain way about him when he play fought out of affection, and this seemed alot more like _'I want to wrestle you down and close'_ than _'I want to wrestle you to victory.'_

Hiccup, after a few rolls and pushes, presses his feet to the ground and holds his palms out to concede. It wasn't that he couldn't win against Toothless, but this seemed awfully like Toothless starting to prove their relationship _physically_ , and there had been times he had come perilously close when strangers had not believed they could be together and he felt _that_ the best option.

That was typical. In a major sense Hiccup and Toothless were playmates before anything else. Toothless was _fun._ He had found that out at first when the dragon had shown his less guarded side by grabbing a branch and twirling it in circles, then by just how  _amazing_ flying could be. This was all way beyond what he could have imagined before befriending a dragon, but Toothless had surprised him time and time again by being a clever conversationalist and wickedly powerful _yet_ respectful lover. For all the effort and often exhaustion the jet black heap of scales could be, he was enjoyable to be around, and the _best_ best friend imaginable.

He felt that was a large part of what drew him to Toothless, to be more than curious, more than friends or partners. Toothless had a _WAY_ to how he moved, how he expressed himself. It was at once incredibly adorable and frustratingly complex. Hiccup knew that many, many times he had not realized the full meaning of Toothless' actions, or missed them all together. It was bewildering to ponder. It was sad to understand how he did not understand the full beauty of the one that had got him here, the sleek black beast coated in scale and leather holding all that power and such a deep well of affection... But he _could_ try, and he could not help but grasp at it.

He lays back against the smooth support given by the still chuckling dragon behind him. Toothless has his eyes closed and his mouth turned into a cheeky dragon-smile. So the Night Fury looks absolutely adorable and the very nature and form of it catches in Hiccup's mind leaving him unable to resist smiling too. He lays himself over Toothless, simultaneously hating the stupid dragon for making him seem so naive and inept in front of these elders and loving him, deeply and completely, to his core.

He sneezes, a small 'Choo' sound that pushes him back slightly against Toothless a few times before the sneezing stops. He _feels_ the dragon smiling at his back.

:That's adorable; Toothless remarks, the comment heartfelt and playful.

:Shut up:.

:Oh, that's adorable too!: The big black mass falls out from behind him and before he can react Hiccup is being slathered across the entire top half of his body by a large, wet forked dragon tongue.

"Toothless!" His mind switches over to verbal speech when Toothless begins murmuring a contented _'love'_ noise from the back of his throat whilst scent-marking all over his prize, running his huge tongue all over Hiccup. Hiccup writhes, helpless.

:Hey. You put out your hand, but I pushed into it:.

Hiccup is bewildered when Toothless stops the assault of his own volition. He could never stop the Night Fury from doing that with words. For a few beautiful moments, he's stunned by what Toothless said. Nothing so earth-shattering had he ever experienced, besides this, and perhaps their first kiss.

...

Then, he sees it. A dragon twice the size of the others, obviously ancient, and **_profoundly terrifying_**.

 **:What a mess. A mess of bodies;** He looks judgmentally over Hiccup, Toothless and Astrid. **:A mess of _noise_ :.**


	14. Masterchef

 

Toothless woke very early. His thoughts were fluid and shifting. Much like his body, he was unable to keep his mind still.

One of his first realizations he had was how exhausted Hiccup was last night. Normally the boy would be unable to contain a flurry of thought and concern that would keep him up for as long as Toothless could stay awake, but it was clear the fight had drained his stamina completely.

He looked at the metallic, sharp-horned dragon watching them with concern. Nightshear had arrived at some point during their sleep, but the fact that he had watched them sleep did not completely anger him. Right now, Hiccup's survival held priority over all else in his life, and he felt the rage that had washed over him when he found _they had_ _mating-dance'd with each other_ recede to the back of his mind. 

The fact that _Hiccup and Toothless_ mating-danced with each other on a daily basis was comforting.

To mating dance is to fly as close as possible with another, and they did this better than any two dragons ever could, because Toothless' flight _WAS_ Hiccup's, and this was a beautiful thing. How could any other dragon deny it? Hiccup had flied with Toothless many, many times. Much, much more than his human had flied with Nightshear. All dragons knew, more than anything else, the meaning of flying close together. It was an act of intimacy, and belonging to that other.

If two dragons flew close with each other, if they brushed wingtips and intertwined and danced in the air around each other, they were a pair. They were mates. That was indisputable. The thought of denying such a thing could not occur. So when Hiccup flew as close as he did with Toothless, with his every action linked to the Night Fury and his movements crucial to their flying, it was even more than that. Dragons flying as close as they could would never match the aerial aptitude they had, couldn't even try. Hiccup was not a human riding on a dragon's back, he was himself an integral part of dragon-flight and that was what elevated him to the status equal of dragons and let himself be known as Toothless' mate.

He had reminded himself this last night, as he dreamwalked with his partner. He had told Hiccup how proud he was, many many times over, to have a mate-to-be like him, and promised Hiccup many happy times together with a pure and base physical affection composed of both dragon kisses _and_ human ones.

As much as he knew this, though, he sensed the fear at the edge of Hiccup's mind.

It wasn't a fear of the giant dragon Alpha still wanting their blood... It was a fear of disappointing Toothless.

He knew.

He knew how much Toothless wanted and _needed_ this, because Hiccup _Is_ his mate-to-be and instinct declares there is only one way for that to happen.

He wondered, not for the first time, if Hiccup had first hand knowledge of these things.

As crafty and curious as he could be, was it really a stretch that the young viking could have seen it with his own eyes? And the worry that gave him, that he could hurt Hiccup, not just from the act itself but _also_ the bite. Were these things Hiccup already considered and worried for?

Finally, he had sensed Hiccup starting to pick up on his own worry and praised him once more for being so very clever. These concerns were a headache, yes, but the possibility that they had never confessed their true feelings for each other at all, now that would have been much worse. The idea that Toothless could have spent _all these future years_ loving his human but not being able to express it, and Hiccup dismissing the notion that a human and dragon could love each other as equals, something Toothless knew was a desire in his mind on the same level as giving Toothless flight once more...

 

With a heavy but hopeful heart, he starts towards the shore of this small, battered island.

The Queen holds place in the back of his mind as a great but manageable concern. He knows that she will come for them. He also knows that she is very slow, and he was very fast. With Hiccup's energy and force, he had pushed himself harder that night than he ever had before. His aching wings told the tale of a flight made so fast, so far that any normal dragon would have a hard time catching them, let alone a half-blind monstrosity of that size. Had the Queen been hurt at all by the rocks that were still collapsing all around as she chased them out of her own nest? In any case, he could still imagine her rage at the interlopers who had triggered such destruction.

As Toothless searches the shallow pools of the rocky coastline, he worries over Hiccup. For now, he is in no danger. Yet danger strikes from all sides and it was his own clan that had slashed at his leg and given him what could have been a debilitating wound. The vikings held a place on Toothless' list of who he _despised_ very close to Red Death. They had plagued his love's mind to the point where he did not know what it was to be accepted, loved, or properly cared for. Even now, when Hiccup has given all his time and energy to repairing him and making sure Toothless can be free and whole, the human still does not accept having that attention reciprocated readily. It shocks him, somehow. Toothless lets a pained huff at the troubled water, watching the ripples scatter and bounce. If Hiccup never fit the accepted way of Vikings, _they_ were unworthy of _him_ and more foolish than they could ever understand.

 

He spots it, a spotless and juicy Icelandic Cod washed into one of the rocky pools and stranded. He grips it in his jaw, before suddenly catching sight of several more and catching them aswell, more with brute force than any practiced method.

Toothless had not dive-fished as he was used to for a very long time now, yet this more tame method of clawing the fish out of the water directly he had quickly adapted to out of some necessity, his makeshift tailfin being untested for such things and himself unwilling to plunge Hiccup underwater with him at a breakneck speed to pull off the dive-fishing maneuver.

Hiccup would always keep him well fed, no matter what. He knew _this_ as a fact. He wouldn't let him to do without reciprocating, and this was something he had established since their very first meetings.

Toothless stops halfway back. His original instinct to wolf down the entire catch and regurgitate some for his flock-mate hits a snag. With a clarity that rarely comes to him, he remembers Hiccup admitting he disliked the practice. This was something of what humans called 'disgust' and it had shown on Hiccup's face then. This was an expression he had come to learn, as he had _all the others_ and it meant, to Toothless' sudden shock and confusion, that the dragon practice of regurgitating a catch, an act of instinctual love and caring to a smaller flock-mate, was abhorrent to Hiccup. If this was so, the boy had eaten saliva-covered fish for many many weeks without complaint merely to spare Toothless' feelings.

With this thought he is committed to preparing the fish in a way that Hiccup would not only _accept_ , but absolutely _**love and desire**_. In other words, this meal would be like Toothless himself. The Toothless before he was shot down was unpalatable to humans, as this fish could be. But this fish will be as Toothless learnt to be with Hiccup, to be clever and creative and **_desirable_**.

It will be a small token of gratitude for all the wonderful things his love has done.

The Night Fury _thinks_ , under the shade of weathered pine trees and chirping birds. A brief appreciation runs through him for this after the crushing atmosphere of the lands near the Queen's enclave. Fresh air and unfiltered sunshine are wonderful things, he muses. His sleek onyx wings ruffle in the breeze and he stretches his limbs to their full extent, reveling in the satisfying feeling of it. His stomach growls quietly, and he noses his snout under a fish, then throws it in the air and catches it in his gullet. The feeling of it sliding down his throat is wonderful, and it mirrors his thoughts to what _Hiccup_ would think is wonderful in a meal.

Hiccup would not enjoy a whole fish sliding down his throat. He most likely could not manage that at all, Toothless felt, after seeing his boy take many, many bites to finish one. Hiccup was _complex_. He had brought things with him, when he intended on eating with his dragon. For Toothless' curiosity and continued sniffing, he had shared these strange things. Toothless had not been that enraptured by onions or garlic, but they were edible, small as they are... Even grated onto fish as a seasoning, Toothless disagreed with disturbing the pure taste of any of his favorite local seafood. This was what Hiccup liked, though, and they could be growing on this island.

Toothless has a keen nose and a good memory for smells. He hunts for a while, as though tracking an elk. Coincidentally, he _can_ scent an elk on the wind. For a moment he starts to prowl after it, but stops, composing himself. There at his feet is a burst of green stems with a familiar smell. He digs his claw, ever so gently, into the earth and hooks the small plant into his grasp. Then, he leans down and grips it between his two sets of teeth.

Collecting a pile of stones together, he lays them out flat to create a makeshift cooking pad. At first, the dragon is unsure about portion size, so he compares the average amount of fish he would eat in a meal, then quarters it. It would still be a little much, but he wanted to push Hiccup to eat as much as possible. Hiccup said he had always been scrawny, and seemingly couldn't help it. But he never had anyone who could care about him enough to _make_ him eat, and Toothless felt that with the way he was treated, Hiccup didn't have much of an appetite. Now he was wanted, part of a flock, with a mate-to-be, he could finally focus on being strong.

He lays the fish down and heats the stone underneath it steadily with a continued jet of flame. Once the rock is hot enough, it becomes an impromptu stovetop, cooking the fish without constant attention. It gives Toothless enough time to return to the shore and pick out another two fish to add to the rock.

It's another matter entirely trying to puzzle out the onions. He taps one, tentatively with a claw. He would need something sharp. 

Toothless creeps back to the spot his human is dozing at. With silent movements, he grips Hiccup's knife carefully between two teeth. Moving slowly, he is able to smoothly retract the knife from it's housing and walk away, just as quiet, with the blade in his jaws.

Cutting onions with a knife is not easy, for a dragon. When Toothless first brings the blade down, it topples the onion to the side and it rolls off it's platform, forcing him to grip it carefully once more and place it back. Holding it between his much too large claws, he tries again. The knife goes through, this time. Toothless praises Hiccup silently for keeping it so sharp. As he cuts through it again and again, the onion seems to dice nicely and the process becomes easier.

After enough dicings, the onion is ready to be added to the fish. But how? How do humans do this? If he grasps the onion pieces like he did the onion, individually, the process would take hours. If he tried to carry them in his mouth, they would get soggy. Scooping them into a paw _might_ work, but then he would be walking with three paws, off balance. He would surely drop them, if he even could hold them in a dragon-paw to begin with.

With a spark of thought, he grasps the stone holding the fish, still quite hot, and places it underneath the one holding the onions. The burning heat sears his gums slightly, and he winces at the pain. It was good fortune to have so many such stones lying around, although they still held a slightly rounded shape, so it took care to ensure pieces did not fall off. Tipping the onion-laden stone gently, he watches them scatter onto and between the fish, landing with a _sizzle_ and immediately begin to golden.

Toothless smiles at his good work. He must admit, there is a wonderful look to the meal and a near-irresistible smell. He hastens to collect Hiccup before the meal can cool.

 

* * *

 

 

 _There was something wet lapping all over his exposed skin_ ,

Hiccup realized slowly through the fog of early morning drowsiness. Slowly coming to, he recognized the distinct sound of Toothless' soothing telepathic voice and the familiar comforting feel of his soft forked tongue. He had, as an unconscious process, adapted to these two things as  _things that his dragon did._ Telepathy felt entirely natural, like he had missing this parallel to talking all his life as a mistake and not a normal human life-course. As Toothless slathered him with affectionate and hurried licks, he alternated a chorus of :Wake Up: and :Love You: that seemed to meld into each other in their purposeful combined message.

:Here, eat:. Toothless presented, with a graceful, surprising delicacy, a skewered fish roasted nicely and dressed with herbs.

 

Hiccup is immediately at a loss for words. His hunger speaks for itself, though. He grabs the offered meal a whole lot quicker than he even realizes, biting into it with immediate satisfaction. Toothless laughs a dragon-laugh at this. It's infectious and pure. Hiccup cannot help but smile with his face stuffed. As he eats, he pushes himself close to his dragon and takes comfort in the small movements Toothless' breathing cause against him. Warmth from both the meal and his Night Fury flows through his being.

Toothless seems in the best mood he has been in weeks. Hiccup mirrors the feeling. There's an ease to the life they have in this short moment, like being together in the cove on Berk, _without_ the constant worry that they may be found out and deemed traitors. On this remote spot of land, for today at least, the only concern was not staying in one place for a long time.

:More; Toothless demands.

There are two more fish that Toothless has prepared for him, still hot and infused with the same wonderful smell. Hiccup finds them irresistible.

:You didn't have to do that; He starts to protest despite the delicious iresseistablity.

:I did. Hiccup never takes care of himself. Should have started feeding you earlier:.

:I don't need looking after. I'm not some special... thing. I'm nothing special, Toothless:.

It was evident Toothless did not understand this. **_Of course_** Hiccup was special. _That was the way of things,_ is what Toothless would say.

:I know... What I've done for you; He continues :But I know what I've done **_to_** you aswell:...

Toothless huffs at him, affronted.

 :But noone ever told you how beautiful you are. Not being 'sultry'. It's the truth. Something I began to notice and never managed to tell you, because I thought it was so obvious. I must have mentioned it a few times, before Hiccup understood me. But _then_ , I thought I would look stupid by stating the obvious like that. I mean beautiful outside, too. Not just your cleverness, but every part of you:.

The shock at how _linguistic_ Toothless could be hit him like a slap to the face. Clearly, the dragon had picked up on more than he had thought.

 Hiccup starts to wolf down the fish with greater fervor than he knew he possessed. Simultaneously, he continues his objections. He couldn't directly object what Toothless had said (because what Toothless had said was more than he could handle or even process right now).

:You don't owe me anything:... Hiccup looks down at his feet and ignores Toothless' snort of derision. :Stupid Lizard:.

:Hiccup. We have time to talk, if Hiccup wants:.

This is nerve-wracking. If the big dragon has any idea the stress he's inflicting...

:I always shared everything with you. Everything that I wanted to just tell somebody, anybody, but couldn't. I had no idea how much you actually understood. But there were a few things I really shouldn't have said:.

:Hiccup?:

 :Yeah?:

:I owe Hiccup. Everything. This; he gestures to Hiccup's leg, still bandaged and painful; :It's my fault. If I had never flown you back to them. I know how much they hurt you, before you met me. I shouldn't have given them another chance:.

:No!:. There's hurt in his voice, he knows, and he hates it. Toothless was being honest and kind, and it hurt him. The feel of this is overbearing.

"Dammit, Toothless!" He can't help but shout.

Toothless startles, earplates stiffening at the sudden loud noise.

"Are you trying to rile me up, or what? You know I'm not good at - I mean-" He stumbles over his words for a second. Hiccup feels he could fall into some state of shock, with the electric sudden pulses of adrenaline running the length of his spine.

"You know how I feel. About you. You can sense it, can't you? Look, I know what it's like for me, but I don't know what it's like for you. The truth is, I've thought about it, alot. Every viking my age has, I think. Not with a  _dragon,_ and very usually, not with another male." He feels his face grow even warmer, and the knowledge he is blushing right now only serves to make him that more nervous. But this must be said. He can't stop himself now. "Every time I was around the other teens at the great hall, Snoutlout would be trying to get Astrid. The twins would be up to the same kind of stuff, too, although they are a bit more difficult to understand." Hiccup gives his dragon a sidelong glance. "Those are the other ones I told you about, back in the cove. Anyway, Dad and Spitlout and Gobber and all the others would remark on how they used to be the same when they were that young."

Toothless shifts a little. If he understands what he's being told, he doesn't show it. The Night Fury does look pleased, though. Hiccup had eaten a hearty breakfast _and_ shared his feelings. The dragon was probably feeling quite proud of himself for getting Hiccup to do so.

He could never talk like this -  not to anyone else anyway. But Hiccup finds himself rambling, resenting Toothless more and more the further he goes.

:What I'm saying is, I have alot of... Desire. Okay? Lust. I've thought things about you. Things I shouldn't have. You're a Night Fury. A great, big, powerful and majestic dragon. the _'offspring of lightning and death itself'_ and to me you're just..."

How does that sentence end? He looks to Toothless for an answer, but the dragon is still waiting patiently, giving Hiccup all the time and respect in the world. Suddenly, he wants to shout at the dragon about this, too. He had never received time _or_ respect before, either, but living with Toothless Hiccup was now the center of attention, for the one person (dragon) in his life at least. The oddity and strangeness of this was still unnervingly stunning, also.

:I couldn't stop looking at you, and the more I do, the more I - Well - Toothless, you have beautiful muscles. I didn't realize how-; He _chokes_ on the word ;-sexy they were. But they are. When you move, they flex and ripple and, that day in the cove... After that day in the cove, when we knew how we felt about each other and we kissed....:

The memory brings a small smile to his face. Toothless is making a small sound in the back of his throat, he realizes. With a start, it becomes apparent just what this specific growl did to him.

_Is this the sound Toothless makes when he's thinking about?..._

:When you started coming towards me, like you wanted to - uh - you would say 'mate' with me?:

That was too much. Hiccup feels like he could collapse, but Toothless' snout bracing against him feels like warm support, like the dragon knew just what he needed. The fact that Toothless seemed to be _taking_ , drinking him in with his touch and smell was another thing.

:I did; replies the now smirking dragon. :Would not have been good for you, I know. Would never want to hurt Hiccup:. Toothless' slight grin turns sour at this thought.

The relief is immense.

He had asked the question hesitantly, fearing the answer. It was still so amazing that he was wanted like this, and Hiccup wondered if he would ever fully accept it. He had expected more and more as he was talking for Toothless to start getting mad at his un-bottling. But the dragon knew his introspective and doubting nature. That was a part of Hiccup. Of course he did. Toothless was fine with it, too. Hiccup could be so conflicted and irrational and the dragon would accept.

He _had_ pondered Toothless' emotions. Dragons seemed to have such pure feelings and ambitions. Their desires were powerful, but seemingly never conflicting or breaking. Like a mountain stream intent on rushing water quickly down it's rocky bed, dragons would set on a thing with their heart and knew nothing of doubt. And like their scale, their pride and self-worth were strong, unyielding...

Toothless had already set himself on Hiccup.

Hiccup had held the true depth of desire for Toothless from him in fear. How stupid could he be?

:Yeah; Hiccup sighs. He's just too flustered to get into it now, but the fact was that he had considered that possibility as well, even before he first kissed Toothless in the wonderful place they had spent those defining weeks and short months. If he could have, would he? It would have been so hard to say no. As overwhelmed as he is with stirring emotions, this is almost dizzying. The thought of not only befriending the long time enemy of Vikings, but 'mating' with one?

His thoughts are interrupted, perhaps thankfully, by Toothless, snout rubbing against his body. His dragon was _really_ seeking and drinking Hiccup in all of a sudden, as though Hiccup's words had lit a fire within him jut as strong as the whirlpool of feeling coursing through Hiccup's being right now.

"Toothless!" He chuckles.

With every motion the Night Fury seems to push his shirt and vest a little higher and his pants a little lower, giving the dragon access to Hiccup's soft and pale skin.

"Toothless, no..." Hiccup tries, half-halfheartedly, to push the large scaled head away. Toothless' playfulness was one of his favorite qualities, though. It was hard to be against this. Then, a thought hits him.

"Oh! Toothless, you shouldn't be doing anything too physical with that cut in your mouth!"

Toothless croons and warbles at him sweetly. The dragon relents a bit, and with the slight opportunity Hiccup is able to push the momentum the other way. He shifts his entire weight and pushing force against his dragon, flipping the situation so he is leaning down on Toothless, the dragon now splayed on his back.

"I'm sorry I did that. You don't deserve to hurt, either"

:No; Toothless grumbles.

"Huh?"

:Don't apologize:.

Hiccup can't accept that. He has already hurt Toothless, clipping off an entire tailfin. The guilt and remorse he felt came in waves, but it always lingered at the back of his subconscious.

He pries open Toothless' large maw and inspects the slash through Toothless' gum he had made. It's no longer bleeding. If only he had paid more attention to Gothi, he laments, he might know a way to treat this. Then again, perhaps this is a wound that can heal itself just fine, as dragons have clashes with steel battleaxes and swords all the time and come back for more.

With a start he manages to push himself off the ground. The air had suddenly turned cold, sending a shiver up his spine. His mind races at the implication. Toothless' repeated affections are lost to him now, and his thoughts turn to danger. He checks Toothless' earflaps, eyes, and general mannerisms, even as the dragon laps his tongue up the boy's neck and chin in a dragon-kiss. Toothless seemingly as yet unaffected, he rushes away to collect the saddlebag and harness hastily discarded last night when they set down to sleep.

The strip of fabric is still there on the ground as well, he notes with a breath or relief. Toothless is very close behind, and seems to pick up on Hiccup's actions quickly. He can likely sense the Queen's presence even more keenly, Hiccup thinks, and was only blinded by his feelings.

The thought sends another shiver down his spine. A good one. He quickly presses his lips to Toothless' large maw, but has trouble breaking the kiss. Toothless' darting eyes and rumble in his throat finally stop him. With swift, practiced movements he gears them up, attaching everything to his compliant dragon and hefting himself onto the awaiting leathered seat.

:I won't let Her hurt you; Toothless promises. It's a promise made in cold air as they ascend into a bleak and desolate landscape, but to Hiccup it's solid as metal and stone.

The air brushes past them. It's ice. It's frost-bite incarnate. Every cloud they pass, the air gets a little colder. Hiccup hugs close against Toothless, wrapping his arms around his large frame as much out of necessity as for comfort. With his fingers this far around and his head pressed close against Toothless' warm scales, he feels a -thud-thud- of heartbeat through Toothless' neck. He knows this to be the most sensitive and vulnerable part of a dragon, especially his one, and he takes care not to brush too firmly against  _that certain spot_. 

That rush of blood passes underneath his fingers in a steady and quick rhythm, matching Toothless' wingthrusts and exhalations. Hiccup feels a pang of guilt at Toothless' exertions. His dragon has already flown them so far, and what had he received for this whole ordeal besides a cut mouth and sore muscles? There's something else beneath the overlying adrenaline the dragon is pulsing through his sleek form. Hiccup feels it, the same way Toothless can sense the same thing in Hiccup when he desires.

Fear.

:I shared with you; He begins. :Can you share back with me?:

:Scared. Of Her:

Hiccup once again checks over the fabric holding Toothless' earplates down, blocking the unheard sound of her control.

Toothless had not fully expressed how horrible it must have been to be a slave all those years, but it showed in how he had fought. It showed in the power of his flight, now. A monster larger than anything he had ever seen was hunting them down, slowly but surely, and they would need a mountain of resolve and bravery to overcome it.

:Hiccup is feeling okay?:

:Why?:

:Careful with your leg... Don't tear the bandages:.

Hiccup looks down, twisting his body to do so. Amazingly, the bandage was intact. He gave a small thanks to Gothi. Toothless may claim that all his village were awful, but the old bat had indeed saved him.

Toothless seemed to be ruminating on that even more deeply.

:It's my fault. I shouldn't have flown us there. I knew what they had done. Hurt Hiccup with their words:.

:Toothless, no. Stop saying such things:.

:I need Hiccup to know. Always blame, never blame others. I'm responsible. Hiccup is _egg_. I am _Drakiana_ and _Sire_ :.

Hiccup blushes again, thankful Toothless couldn't see. :I am not!:

:Hiccup is Whelp:.

:Better, I guess; he pouts.

 

* * *

 

                                                                                

 

**_-Years later-_ **

 

 

:Yes, Toothless has told us as much. And he has proven himself to be very loyal to you, undoubtedly. My concern is with you. My daughter tells me that you two are mates... How that could work is beyond me, but apparently you enjoy playing the role of the female and having him overpower you during mating...:

Hiccup, frozen with fear like a yak inside an iceberg (and with the same ability to move, speak, or do anything right now), can only maintain eye contact with the monstrous dragon lecturing him and try not to faint. The fact this oppressive beast looked much like a older and much larger version of his best friend, lover and constant companion was irrelevant right now. At this moment, the only thing he could do was swallow his nausea and try to remain composed. If the Night Fury decided to eat him, that would be it. It was okay. He had been in a situation where he was about to be eaten by a Night Fury before.

Yet Silas was looking at him as though expecting an answer, or any reaction to his statement, and Hiccup's shocked silence only seemed to aggravate him further.

:Humans constantly astound me with how strange they are. You seek to hold this kin of _my proud species_ to yourself?:

Seemingly accepting now of Hiccup's speechlessness, he sniffs at the boy, looking closely at his numerous trails of onyx scale trails that criss-crossed his body. Hiccup feels a keen pang of self-conciousness add to his already overflowing pool of emotions.

:Perhaps you seek power. Is that it? I know humans are vain, and seek to manipulate the world with their clever little paws. You make crafting-things and shelters out of dead wood and molten sand. You collect dumb beasts and hold them in pens of your own making. Is that how you see Toothless? A dumb beast you can have of your own? Manipulate his feelings and have him adore you, because noone else will?:

Hiccup gulps. His mouth and throat are bone dry and the world is off-kilter.

... A tense moment ellipses, and the large dragon sighs ....

:Back to the cell with you. Perhaps it is a good thing you did not speak, for I am in no mood for lies today. I will hear you tomorrow, and you had better have some good things to say, soft little mammal, for your own sake:.

 

...

 

Hiccup paced the path back to his cell. Despondent, lonely and hopeless, his thoughts can't help wandering to escape once more. This is another dead end line of thinking, like all the others. He has already checked every corner of this place, and seen no sign of another exit. As old as Dustin might be, he was still a dragon more than twice his size. Hiccup knew what he was like fighting dragons.

The cell is the same as he left it. He sighs and places himself against the rock wall, butt against the soft heap of blankets. It's been a long time without hearing Toothless, bur now he thinks of the soft scrapings against his rock wall. Despite everything else, he smiles. With this memory, he can sleep.

 

...

 

The female Night Fury wakes him some time later.

Hiccup narrows his eyes in the dim light. Why can he still not remember her name? He hesitates to say anything, the conflicting emotions of anger and frustration locked inside him. She had been the one to say how obvious Toothless' love for him was, and exclaim wonder and a halting concern at their bonding. How could she let her father treat them like this?

:I set a proposal to sire. He does not believe you two love each other, not really:.

She seems anxious and unwilling to continue, but it's obvious there was more to come with that statement. Hiccup tries to put aside his anger for her and her father, and fails. So he grasps it instead and clears his throat.

"I'm sitting here, day in, day out. I'm bonded. Do you know what that means? If you think there's any chance of the truth of our love for each other, and you know you do, then you know how much this hurts me. Hurts him."

Hiccup tries to hold her gaze with his, make her see the truth of it. But his vision becomes watery and he feels the tears spill over before he can try to stop it.

"I can't _be_ without him. Do you understand? We have been each other's _everything_ for the last - _whatever how long_ \- but it might as well have been forever, and without him I might as well be dead." His voice cracks, then drops off.

It wasn't clear that she understood all of that, but when the dragon next spoke it was humble, and downcast.

:I- I don't know. I don't know what it's like. To have someone:.

...

They spend a moment in painful silence together. The pang of guilt he feels for making this Night Fury feel her own loneliness is short lived.

:I thought, although this would be an embarrassing thing for a human:...

:What?:

:If you two could... Show your love to each other, in front of sire, he would _know_ and have to release you:.

Hiccup blushes deep crimson. As unstable as he is right now, he finds himself glad to be sitting down already. To have these dragons questioning his bond with Toothless was one thing; he had already felt like he could fall through the surface of the earth during that first interrogation! Was she asking them to _mate in front of Silas_?

 

 


End file.
